Indonesian authorities found the boat reported missing en route to Australia but the dozens of asylum seekers it was carrying have fled. Authorities had been searching for the boat since the mostly Afghan asylum seekers on board made a distress call to Australia late Wednesday, saying they were in rough seas and their boat was sinking.
Indonesian authorities located the missing vessel late on Friday, even though the boat had apparently reached Lombok island two days earlier. Officials and residents told AFP on Saturday that the asylum seekers had fled after landing on Lombok.
Refugee advocates in Australia said they had been in frequent phone contact with people on board the boat, about 60 mostly Afghan asylum seekers. "The accounts of the community on Lombok and the people on the boat don't match up," Sigit said.
