Ceremonies in Belgium mark 3 decades since ferry sinking
Posted March 06, 2017 6:00 am
ZEEBRUGGE, Belgium (AP) - Three decades after the capsizing of the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, victims' families will sail out to the scene of the disaster to remember the 193 who died.
Under overcast skies and with a strong wind blowing, the tribute at sea Monday will be followed by a memorial service at the St. Donaas church in this busy North Sea port.
The Herald of Free Enterprise was on its way from Zeebrugge to Dover, England, on March 6, 1987, when water rushed in through bow doors that had been left open. In minutes, it tipped over and sank. It was the worst peacetime British maritime disaster since the Titanic sank in 1912.
Kim Spooner, center, from Britain, carries flowers for an uncle she lost during a remembrance service for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
The Associated Press
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