Refugee boat blast kills three, several missing

A blast aboard a wooden fishing boat carrying 49 asylum seekers killed at least three people after the vessel was intercepted by the Australian navy off the country's northwest coast. Dozens more were injured and at least two are reported missing.Three people died, two were missing and several others were injured in an explosion on a refugee boat off Australia's northwest coast Thursday, police said.The vessel was being towed by an Australian navy ship after it had been intercepted when there was an explosion in the engine room, said Sergeant Greg Lambert."It is believed that three people have been killed, two people are missing and others are injured," Lambert told Australian Associated Press. He said the precise number of injured was not yet known.A spokeswoman for the Royal Darwin Hospital said staff had been told three people were dead and there were 46 unspecified casualties after the explosion, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.The boat was carrying 49 refugees believed to be from Afghanistan, officials said.Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said it was being towed to an immigration detention centre on Christmas Island, 2,600 kilometres (1,600 miles) northwest of Australia's mainland."The vessel was being escorted to Christmas Island so that safety and health checks could be done," Debus said in a statement.