'Crew cut boat engines hours before Christmas Island crash'

Canberra, Dec 20 (ANI): Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said that the death toll of last week's Christmas Island boat tragedy has risen to at least 48 so far.

According to news.com.au, 90 people were on board SIEV 221 when it crashed last week, and 42 of them have been rescued.

The news comes as a survivor of the crash has said crew members turned off the boat's engines hours before the boat was dashed against rocks, promising they would soon be rescued by the Navy.

According to an Iraqi passenger, one of the 42 survivors, said that the crew cut the engines at about 2am, four hours before the boat hit the rocks. (ANI)