25th anniversary of Baltic Sea ferry wreck that killed 852

The bow door of the sunken passenger ferry M/S Estonia is lifted up from the bottom of the sea, off Uto Island, in the Baltic Sea in 1994. File picture: Jaakko Aiikainen/Lehtikuva via AP

The bow door of the sunken passenger ferry M/S Estonia is lifted up from the bottom of the sea, off Uto Island, in the Baltic Sea in 1994. File picture: Jaakko Aiikainen/Lehtikuva via AP

Published Sep 28, 2019

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Helsinki - The sinking of a Baltic Sea ferry that killed 852 people has been observed 25 years after one of Europe's deadliest maritime disasters.

The MS Estonia was damaged by high waves and sank while traveling from Estonia's capital to Stockholm early on Sept. 28, 1994. The wreck had 137 survivors.

Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid marked Saturday's anniversary by laying a wreath at a memorial in Tallinn for the victims. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Crown Princess Victoria led a similar commemoration in Stockholm.

Along with the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, the MS Estonia wreck is among the worst peacetime disasters involving a European ship.

The bodies of most victims remain entombed on the ferry, which rests on the seabed some 80 meters (264 feet) below the sea's surface.

AP

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