SYDNEY, June 27 (UPI) -- A boat carrying women and children seeking asylum in Australia capsized in the Indian Ocean 100 nautical miles north of Christmas Island, officials said.
The Australian Maritime and Safety Authority said 136 people were saved and there was only one confirmed death, the newspaper The Australian reported.
Officials could not confirm how many people were on the boat.
Paramedics, nurses, doctors and emergency, police and immigration personnel were standing by on Christmas Island, preparing to respond to the influx of survivors, and the island's Volunteer Marine Rescue Service was put on standby to respond to other asylum boats, the newspaper said Wednesday.
The navy's HMAS Maitland and three merchant vessels were sent to the scene to aid in the rescue along with an air force plane.
Australia coordinated the rescue even though the boat went down in Indonesia's search and rescue area.
A spokesperson for the maritime authority said sea conditions in the area were "fair but not ideal."
There was speculation the asylum seekers on the vessel may be the wives and children of the Pakistani and Afghani men and teenage boys whose boat capsized in the same general area Thursday. As many as 90 people on that boat died.
Christmas Island resident Chris Tremayne bemoaned the possibility that "residents have to see dead bodies being dragged up the main street of town again," the newspaper said.
