Authorities in Indonesia have officially called off a search and rescue operation prompted last week when an asylum-seeker boat sank after attempting to reach Australia, leaving more than 50 people dead or missing.
The operation was brought to a halt on Wednesday evening, less than a week after the boat, which was believed to be carrying 81 passengers, broke apart in heavy seas off the coast of West Java.
A spokesman for the Indonesian search and rescue agency, BASARNAS, on Thursday said authorities had recovered 42 bodies, many of them children, but that another 10 people remained missing and were also believed to have drowned.
Just 28 asylum seekers were found alive after the boat - which was carrying people from Lebanon, Iran and Iraq - broke apart near a beach in the district of Agrabinta in West Java at about 10.30am local time last Friday.
The tragedy - the first known fatal attempted crossing since the Abbott government came to power - led to accusations on the part of asylum seekers that Australian authorities had been slow to respond to calls for help.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has rejected claims from survivors that Australian authorities delayed their response to the unfolding tragedy for more than 24 hours.
"Suggestions Australian authorities did not respond to this incident appropriately are absolutely and totally wrong," Mr Morrison said earlier this week.
Share
