Nine feared dead in asylum boat capsize north of Christmas Island A baby boy has died and eight asylum seekers are still missing in waters near Christmas Island. Asylum-seekers are brought ashore at Christmas Island from the Customs ship the Triton. An injured survivor from the asylum boat is checked by Australian Customs officers on the wharf at Christmas Island. Survivors from the asylum boat tragedy wait to be processed by Customs officers on Christmas Island. Survivors of the latest asylum boat tragedy wait on the wharf at Christmas Island. Customs officers check passengers from the asylum-seeker boat that capsized north of Christmas Island. A BABY boy has died and eight other people are feared to have drowned in an asylum-boat capsize north of Christmas Island overnight from which 88 passengers were rescued. Distraught survivors came ashore at Christmas Island this morning after being rescued by Australian authorities at about 10.45pm (AEST). In a statement today Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said initial advice was that the boat, from Indonesia, was carrying 97 people, with the passengers thought to have come from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. When the boat capsized the Australian Customs ship Triton and merchant vessel the Garden City River were on the scene, about 87 nautical miles north of Christmas Island, having been sent after phone calls made earlier from the asylum boat. The stationary boat was already taking on water before it was then hit by a large wave, took on more water and began to sink. Rescuers in several boats worked to pull people from the water, Mr Clare said. They recovered the body of a boy aged under one year. Australian navy ships the HMAS Bathurst and HMAS Albany, the Garden City River, an air force P3 Orion and other aircraft will continue to search for the missing people today. The rescued asylum-seekers, men, women and children, were delivered to the Australian territory of Christmas Island just over an hour ago aboard the Triton. Many were crying as they were loaded into buses. Kevin Rudd said the "genuine human tragedy" of the incident underlined the need for the government to keep adjusting its border protection policies. "Right across our region there are events occurring which affect the flow of people and the actions of people smugglers," the Prime Minister told reporters in Brisbane. That is why our response in terms of elevating the work we do cooperatively with the Indonesians and others is now urgent. Other measures in terms of the continued adjustment of our border protection policy are also critical. Mr Clare said the alarm was first raised at 11.15am yesterday after a man in Melbourne told Australian Federal Police he had received a phone call from a man aboard the vessel, who said it was in trouble and gave a partial GPS position. The AFP advised the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and an alert was issued by the Rescue Co-ordination Centre after the boat was located about 108 nautical miles from Christmas Island at about 2.30pm. At 4.45pm the AFP had received more calls from the asylum-seeker vessel. "Information from the caller suggested that the vessel was disabled, that it was taking on water and that there were over 90 people on board," Mr Clare said. The boat drifted about 20 nautical miles south as the Customs boat and the merchant vessel went to assist. The Triton arrived at the boat's location 87nm from Christmas Island at 10pm along with the merchant ship. Crew from the Triton boarded the asylum boat shortly before it was hit by the wave. Mr Clare said that at 2.20am the Triton reported it had rescued 88 people and recovered the body of the baby. The Bathurst arrived at 1.20am and the Albany at 4am.