Rescuers found two more bodies Friday as they continued the search for up to 30 people missing after a boat loaded with asylum-seekers wrecked on the coast of remote Christmas Island, dpa reported.
So far 30 bodies have been recovered. The 42 people who survived say there could have been as many as 100 men, women and children aboard the rickety fishing boat, which was smashed early Wednesday against the rocky cliffs of Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island.
The mishap occurred after the vessel had set off from Indonesia crammed with asylum-seekers.
Christmas Island shire president Gordon Thomson told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio that an asylum-seeker who was already being held in Christmas Island's detention centre discovered he had lost seven members of his family, including his wife, in the tragedy.
Thompson said a boy who survived the disaster had lost both parents. Four infants were among the dead, as well as one girl and two boys. Twelve men and nine women were killed.
The survivors included 25 men, eight women, four boys, four girls and one baby. They are reported to be Iraqi and Iranian.
More than 100 Australian Navy and customs officials are engaged in the search, though little hope is held for finding anyone alive.
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