Christmas Island, located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of northwest Australia, is the top of an underwater mountain. Once the scene of U.S. nuclear atmospheric testing, the island is surrounded by an extremely rocky coastline where steep cliffs rise to a central plateau.
South of Java, by 380 kilometers, the island - which is sometimes called the "Galapagos of the Indian Ocean" - measures a total of 135 square kilometers. It has one small airport and one small anchorage port (known as Flying Fish Cove).
On the 15th of December, 2010, Christmas Island was the scene of a terrible tragedy which was captured by still photos and video.
A wooden boat, filled with asylum-seekers who apparently boarded the vessel in Indonesia, foundered in extremely rough waters off Flying Fish Cove. In trouble, the boat could neither reach port nor stop its forward movement.
Crashing into the coastal rocks, the boat was destroyed. As it sank, people without life vests were tossed into the rolling sea. Many died, as helpless others watched the horrifying event.
People onshore, awakened by the sounds of the crash, tried to throw life jackets into the water. Members of Australia's Navy aided the victims, rescuing some, unable to save others.
The following day, the Sydney Morning Herald's report quotes Christmas Islanders who tried to help (scroll down 50%):
Traumatised residents watched the tragedy unfold from Christmas Island's lethal limestone cliffs. Their efforts to rescue children drowning below them were thwarted by roaring winds that threw back lifevests.
''I saw a person dying in front of me and there was nothing we could do to save them,'' said a Christmas Island councillor, Kamar Ismail.
''Babies, children, maybe three or four years old, they were hanging on to bits of timber, they were screaming 'help, help, help'. We were throwing lifejackets out to them but many of them couldn't swim a few metres to reach them.''
Mick Tassone watched the boat hit the rocks and saw people dashed against the cliffs. ''There was a lot of screaming. It was very rough out there,'' he said. ''They had no chance.''
... From the cliffs, residents threw a rope which snapped, but could not launch rescue boats because of the dangerous swell.
Immediately after the disaster, no one could be sure how many people were aboard the ship before it was "smashed to matchwood." Some estimates put the number of asylum-seekers (reportedly all were of Iraqi, Iranian or Kurdish descent) between 80-100. The forty-two survivors were taken to the island's detention center (until the government determines their immigration status).
A key question, which investigators are asking, is this: Why was the boat allowed to get so close to Christmas Island's rocky coast? The investigation will likely take some time to complete.
Credits
Map online, courtesy CIA World Factbook.
