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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - The Australian navy rescued 16 people, 10 of them children, from a boat sinking in rough water off the country's northwest coast, the defense department said Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear whether they were trying to seek asylum in Australia, or where they were from. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the three men, three women and 10 children had set off in a wooden boat from Indonesia's Rote Island.
Two navy patrol boats were diverted to assist the 33-foot-long vessel after workers on an offshore mining rig saw it taking on water Tuesday, a defense department statement said. Naval officers rushed to the scene and pulled all 16 passengers from the overcrowded boat as it sank in rough seas.
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