No hope for 55 people lost in Indian Ocean capsize

Rescue authorities have given up hope of finding any survivors after an asylum seeker boat carrying at least 55 people to Australia capsized in the Indian Ocean. The boat's submerged hull was spotted by air Friday, and bodies, life jackets and debris have been spotted near Christmas Island, an Australian territory nearer to Indonesia than to the mainland, AP reported. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority called off the air and search Sunday night based on medical advice that no one could have survived that long in the sea, a statement said. The authority and border protection officials decided Monday not to mount a new search to recover the bodies due to other demands on resources. Border Protection Command said its vessels and aircraft were busy with "a range of high priority operations" near Christmas Island and elsewhere. It did not detail those operations. The capsized boat was seen 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Christmas Island, which is 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Jakarta and 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) from Perth, the nearest major Australian coastal city. A total of 13 bodies have been spotted, but ships did not interrupt the search for survivors to retrieve the dead.