Fri, December 17, 2010
Survivors of the refugee boat tragedy off the coast of Australia's Christmas Island are flown to Perth for further medical treatment.
The walking wounded from a refugee boat that smashed to pieces on the rocks of Christmas Island wait for a flight to hospital on the Australian mainland.
They're heading to Perth for further medical treatment.
It's the latest stage in a journey that nearly cost them their lives.
They're the lucky ones who escaped the stormy waters of the Indian Ocean with only minor injuries.
At least 30 other asylum seekers aboard the timber boat are known to have died when the vessel foundered.
Divers are still searching for more bodies.
Police say the boat was Indonesian, but most of the passengers were Iraqis.
TV footage of the vessel disintegrating on the rocks showed men, women and children clinging to the debris, hoping for rescue, and has shocked many Australians.
The tragedy has also raised questions about why the boat was not detected until it was in trouble.
Most vessels heading for the island, which is Australia's main offshore immigration detention centre, are intercepted in the open sea.
Paul Chapman, Reuters.
