Asylum seekers hiding in Aussie

– An asylum-seeker boat has reached Australia for the first time in almost four years, the government said yesterday, with many of those on board the Vietnamese vessel fleeing into a crocodile-infested mangrove rainforest.

Locals said passengers from the rickety vessel disappeared into the dense forest near the Daintree River, north of Cairns, in the tropical far north of Queensland state on Sunday.

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that 15 passengers had been found so far. The ABC added that two others were still missing. The Brisbane Courier Mail reported that up to 20 were unaccounted for. –

Sydney