Australian and Indonesian rescue ships are searching for survivors in waters near the Indonesian island of Java on Thursday after a boat filled with asylum seekers capsized, with many feared dead.
Of the 150 men, women, and children on the boat, 55 people have been recovered thus far, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, and as time in the water increases, hope for rescuing the remaining 95 people diminishes.
Three survivors have serious injuries, with one appearing to have been bitten by a shark. They are in stable condition, and survivors are being taken to the Indonesian port Merak for medical treatment.
Gagah Prakoso, spokesperson with Indonesian rescue agency Basarnas, told the news agency that it heard from the boat in distress early in the morning, but rescue boats and helicopters could not be dispatched for another six hours.
Indonesia cannot do rescue missions at night, the spokesperson said.
“We never conduct operations at night-time because we don’t have the facilities and because bureaucratically speaking it’s complicated,” Prakoso told the paper.
“The helicopters are not equipped with devices designed for night-time flying. And in order to dispatch boats we normally must get a permit [from the harbor] but the harbor office doesn’t do it at night-time,” he added.
Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare told The Australian that there is an increase in people being smuggled to Australia because the smugglers are telling people to “get on the boat before there’s no more chance to come to Australia.”
“That’s been happening now for a number of months,” he said.
