Sea search for survivors ends
Friday 31 August 2012
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EmailAustralian rescue officials today called off their search for nearly 100 asylum-seekers who vanished in choppy seas off Indonesia after their overcrowded boat sank en route to Australia.
Australia's Maritime Safety Authority said that it was pulling out of the rescue operation because there was "no realistic prospect of survivability" after two days in the water.
By this afternoon, 55 survivors had been rescued and one body had been recovered.
Indonesian authorities said that they planned to continue searching, though huge swells were hampering efforts.
The 55 survivors, including six who were in a critical condition, were taken to Merak in Indonesia for medical treatment and would then be transferred to a detention facility, said an Indonesian official.
But some survivors refused to leave the ship, demanding they be allowed to continue.
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