Dangerous swells hamper rescue as death toll mounts

More than 50 boat people may have perished when their rickety wooden craft smashed against rocks off Christmas Island, but the final death toll will probably never be known.

The treacherous swells and atrocious weather that caused Wednesday's tragedy continued to hamper rescue efforts yesterday.

Searchers scoured wreckage for signs of life but feared further deaths.

Last night 28 asylum seekers had been confirmed dead, while at least 42 survived, including 11 children and teenagers.

Australian authorities believe up to 100 men, women and young children from Iraq and Iran were on board the 16m fishing boat when it was pummelled against rocks.

"We do not know with any certainty how many people were on the boat," said Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

"So we have got to prepare ourselves for the likelihood that more bodies will be found, and that there has been further loss of life."

The PM left her summer holiday to head the response to the tragedy and manage the potential political fallout.

Stories of toddlers disappearing into huge waves have added a tragic human face to boat people often painted as "illegal immigrants" and "queue jumpers".

Refugee advocates are already blaming hardline policies they say force asylum seekers to pay people smugglers thousands of dollars for the perilous ocean voyage from Indonesia.

Yesterday political leaders adopted a more sympathetic tone as more graphic video footage, photos and details of the horrific ordeal emerged.

Packed on to the small boat, the would-be refugees had come within "arm's reach" of their final destination - the rugged Australian territory in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

But just after dawn, in heavy seas whipped up by monsoonal storms, the vessel's engine failed.

Residents who rushed to the scene watched helplessly as massive waves tossed the terrified human cargo towards limestone cliffs for almost an hour.

And they described how screams pierced the air as the boat slammed on to the jagged coastline and eventually disintegrated.

"It didn't just hit the rocks once, it smashed repeatedly against the cliffs," dive shop manager Simon Prince told the ABC. "I've got some very unsettling images and I can't imagine I'm going to forget the sight of a small girl lying face down in the water with a lifejacket around her."

Some of the occupants were thrown against the 30m cliffs.

Into gales and driving rain, islanders tried to lower ropes and threw lifejackets towards the asylum seekers, most of whom couldn't swim.

"Babies, children maybe 3 or 4-years-old, they were hanging on to bits of timber, they were screaming 'help, help, help'," said local councillor Kamar Ismail.

"We were throwing lifejackets but many of them couldn't swim a few metres to reach them.

"I saw a person dying in front of me and there was nothing we could do to save them."

The number of people trying to get to Australia by boat has soared in recent years.

At least 130 boats carrying more than 6000 asylum seekers have made the trip this year.

Most of them head for Christmas Island, which is home to Australia's biggest and most overcrowded immigration detention centre.

The island is almost 3000km from the Australian mainland but only 300km from Indonesia.

Australian authorities yesterday insisted they hadn't been aware of the latest arrival until it got into trouble near the coastline. An Australian Navy ship - which was carrying asylum seekers from a separate boat - and a Customs vessel arrived just over an hour later.

As federal and state police arrived on the island to begin a criminal investigation, the PM set up a bipartisan inquiry into the tragedy.