- SYDNEY: Australian police have charged a man with people smuggling in connection with a deadly boat crash on a remote island that killed 48 asylum seekers.
Australian Federal Police say the Iranian-born, Australian citizen was deported from Indonesia to Australia on Thursday and charged with multiple counts of people smuggling. Officials did not release his name.
The charges relate mainly to a deadly December boat crash in which a boat carrying asylum seekers crashed into cliffs along Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. The bodies of 30 victims were recovered, but government officials estimate another 18 people also died.
Three other men were charged in January over the crash and are awaiting trial.

