Survivors of Sunken Boat Seek Asylum in Australia

Claim to be fleeing Afghanistan

Survivors from an asylum seeker boat that sank off Indonesia this week are pleading to be taken to Australia.

The search for more survivors has been called off after the 55 people found alive were sent back to Indonesia, leaving nearly 100 people missing.

The boat, which sank in the Sunda Strait off the island of Java, was the fourth known to have sunk on that route to Christmas Island in recent years.