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Australian prime minister warns that those missing may never be found as 18 people remain unaccounted for
The number of asylum-seekers believed to have died when their boat hit rocky cliffs on an Australian island today rose to 48 as Australia's prime minister warned that those still missing may never be found.
Thirty bodies have been recovered since a boat packed with Iraqi, Iranian and Kurdish asylum-seekers hit rocks on Christmas Island in stormy seas last week and broke apart.
Forty-two people were rescued from the waves, but officials believe many more were swept away in the strong currents.
Rescue workers have been interviewing survivors to help determine exactly how many people were on board so they can clarify how many are still missing.
The prime minister, Julia Gillard, said it appeared about 90 people had been on the boat, based on information from the Australian federal police.
"That does mean, of course, that we are still not able to account for around 18 people on the boat," she told reporters in Canberra. "But I do say that we may never know the total number with certainty."
The immigration minister, Chris Bowen, said on Saturday that the search for survivors had switched to a search for bodies in the waters surrounding Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.
But Gillard warned that those still missing may never be found, adding: "We are, of course, talking about very rough seas, very rocky and difficult coastline, and so it may be that there are bodies of people who travelled on the boat that are never recovered. So that is obviously very, very grim news."
Australia is a major destination for asylum-seekers hoping to start new lives after escaping from poor or war-torn countries.
In recent years, many refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Burma have flown to Indonesia and then continued on to Australia in rickety, packed boats that have few provisions and no safety equipment.
Asylum-seekers who are intercepted by officials are generally sent to an immigration detention centre on Christmas Island or similar centres on the Australian mainland.
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