SYDNEY - A search-and-rescue mission was underway today for about two dozen people missing after their boat capsized in open seas off Indonesia.
About 40 people were believed to be aboard the boat when it capsized near the Cocos Islands, sparsely populated atolls about 1,500 miles northwest of Australia and some 800 miles south of Indonesia.
A merchant ship that responded to a distress call managed to pluck 17 survivors from the Indian Ocean late last night and was searching for others, said Brendan O’Connor, Australia’s home affairs minister.
O’Connor said it was too early to say whether those on board were asylum seekers trying to reach Australia, though aspects of the emergency - such as an unseaworthy boat carrying so many people in waters sometimes used by human traffickers - signaled that may be the case.
Some 35 boats carrying about 1,770 asylum seekers have arrived in Australian waters this year, mostly from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and Sri Lanka.
Many of them pay thousands of dollars to smugglers who put them to sea in leaky boats from Indonesia and sail south. Most end up caught by customs authorities and detained on Christmas Island, which is administered by Australia. An Australian military plane was on its way to the area.
