Asylum seekers die off Australian island

A wooden boat packed with dozens of asylum seekers smashed apart on jagged rocks in heavy seas off an Australian island Wednesday, sending many people to their deaths.

Christmas Island residents on cliffs above watched as the boat broke apart, dumping passengers into waves that pounded them against the rocks. Rescue efforts were underway and officials said it was not immediately clear how many people were dead.

"While many details about this tragedy are still unconfirmed, I understand there have been a large number of fatalities and numerous injuries to those aboard the vessel, including women and children," Western Australia state Premier Colin Barnett said in a statement.

Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan said the vessel was a people-smuggler's boat, but it was not clear how many people were on board or where they were from. "A number of people have been rescued but sadly, some bodies have been retrieved," Swan said.

Christmas Island is a remote Australian territory closer to Indonesia than the Australian mainland and a frequent target of refugee hopefuls, who are housed in a detention centre there.

Australia is a prime destination for people from poor, often war-ravaged countries such as Afghanistan who want to start a new life.

Photos and videos taken by witnesses at the scene show the wooden boat crashing into the rocks and breaking apart. The images also show people floating in the water amid the wreckage. It is unclear if they are alive or dead. The boat was about six tonine metres long, with a cabin covered by a sheet of fabric or plastic.

Simon Prince, who lives next to the cliff where the boat crashed, told The Associated Press heawoke early Wednesday to what he thought were cheers. He walked outside to the cliff and instead heard cries for help from a boat just offshore.

"The engine had failed," Prince toldAP. "They were washing backward and forward very close to the cliffs here, which are jagged limestone cliffs, very nasty."

Prince calledpolice and soon there were dozens of local residents standing on the cliffs, wondering how they could help despite the storm and crashing waves.

He said the boat, carrying about 50 people, tossed for an hour before it finally hit the rocks at the base of the cliff.

"When the boat hit the cliff there was a sickening crack. All the people on board rushed to the land side, which is the worst thing they could do, but I don't think anybody could swim. I think there were about two lifeboats on board this thing," Prince said.

"It was just horrible. People getting crushed. Bodies, dead children, the whole thing was pretty awful."

Prince, who owns a dive shop, and other neighbours began hurling life-jackets into the water, 50 or 60 of them. But many just floated away. Some would-be rescuers were injured on the rocks while trying to get the life-jackets to those in the water, and needed stitches later, he said.

Resident Michael Foster watched in horror as women and children screamedfor help in the churning seas below.

"They had life-jackets on them, but the water was just pushing them up ... and throwing them towards the rocks," Foster toldAP. "It was a pretty horrible situation."

Foster, an electrician, saw around 50 people struggling against the three-metrewaves when he arrived at the cliff, but the currents soon began to sweep them away. He counted around 10 bodies that appeared to be dead. In the churning water, it was impossible to tell whether they were women or men, he said.

The Australian Federal Police would say only that they were responding to a "maritime incident" involving a suspected illegal vessel on the island.

"There is an ongoing situation which involves a rescue of people off Christmas Island. Our paramount priority is the safety of all involved," the Customs and Border Protection Service said in a statement. Officials with the agency declined to elaborate.

The Western Australia state police also would not comment.

"There's a very, very bad tragedy unfolding," Christmas Island local official Gordon Thomson said,refusing to say anything further.

Prince said Navy and Customs vessels were on the other side of the island helping another boat of asylum seekers in calmer seas and took a while to respond to the calls for help.

"Eventually the navy did come around and start picking people out of the water but it was too late for some," Prince said.