Australian police track people from ‘illegal ship’ through crocodile-infested rainforest
Dozens of people thought to be in Australia illegally were missing yesterday in a rainforest after a fishing boat ran aground in crocodile-inhabited waters.
Australia’s Border Force said some of them were found, but did not reveal their nationality nor whether they were fishermen or asylum seekers.
Locals saw people fleeing into the forest after their vessel ran aground near Daintree River in the tropical far north of Queensland on Sunday.
It was reported the craft may be from Vietnam but a marine rescue official told broadcaster ABC it was an Indonesian boat.
Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan said 15 people were detained but local media reported up to 20 others possibly lost in the dense terrain.
The Daintree rainforest, 120 kilometres north of Cairns, is home to crocodiles, dangerous snakes and a giant flightless bird called the cassowary, one of the world’s deadliest because of its aggression.
State Emergency Service area controller Peter Rinaudo said his crews were searching through the mangroves and near the mouth of the 140-kilometre river.
“It’ll be a hard slog,” Mr Rinuado said. “It’s still quite warm in there and it’ll be tough conditions for the guys. I hope the people, however many there are, get located. It’s not a nice area for them to be in.”
Former Australian Border Force chief Roman Quaedvlieg tweeted on Monday that Vietnamese craft “have been illegally fishing in fleets” off the far north Queensland coast over the past two years.
“Possible the Daintree vessel and crew have used this activity as a staging point to make Australian landfall and avoid returning to Vietnam,” Mr Quaedvlieg wrote.
If the boat was found to be carrying asylum seekers, it would be the first time in four years that such a vessel has reached Australian shores.
Asylum seekers who try to reach the country by boat are either turned back or sent to remote camps in the Pacific. Conditions in these camps have been widely criticised by campaigners.
Undocumented migrants are blocked from settling in Australia.