Boat filled with asylum seekers wrecks off Australia

A wooden boat packed with dozens of asylum seekers smashed apart on cliffside rocks in heavy seas off Australia’s remote Christmas Island on Wednesday, sending some to their deaths in churning water as horrified islanders watched helplessly from above.

Rescue efforts were underway, and officials said it was not immediately clear how many people were dead. Local news reports said 41 people had been rescued and that about 30 were still missing.

TV footage showed the 30-foot boat rammed bow-first onto the rocks, splintering and sinking, and its passengers being smashed by waves against the rocks and then swept out to sea.

“When the boat hit the cliff there was a sickening crack.... I don’t think anybody could swim,” said Simon Prince, who lives next to the cliff where the boat crashed. “It was just horrible. People getting crushed. Bodies, dead children, the whole thing was pretty awful.”

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