AN UNKNOWN number of people were believed to be on the run in a crocodile-infested region of northeastern Australia after a fishing boat ran aground on Sunday, authorities and reports said.

An illegal fishing vessel was located in the vicinity of Daintree River, a mangrove estuary in Far North Queensland, the home affairs department said.

“We can confirm that 11 people have been located. The first priority is to confirm the safety and welfare of the people on the fishing vessel,” the department added in a statement.

The department did not respond to questions of whether the vessel found off Cape Kimberley was carrying asylum-seekers, illegal migrants or fishermen.

The Courier Mail and Channel 7 said those on board were either asylum-seekers or illegal immigrants.

Seven said those found were Indonesian, while The Australian said they were believed to be Vietnamese, adding that up to 40 people were believed to have been on-board the vessel.

A local tourism operator said he had seen an empty boat that “looked like Chinese junk”.

“Apparently, other boaties were saying over the radio, it was adrift and before that people were seen leaving it and running off into the bush,” David Patterson told the ABC.

“We saw this boat and didn’t think a lot of it really, then after the radio chatter (we heard) it was deserted and people were seen leaving it.”

If the boat was carrying asylum-seekers, it would be the first time in four years that such a vessel has reached Australian shores.

Asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are blocked from resettling in the country under Government policy.

They are either turned back or sent to camps on islands such as Manus and Nauru, where conditions have been widely criticised.