Ferry Accident 5th in 5 Years; 1982 Collision Killed 6
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LONDON — Friday’s accident in which a British ferry loaded with passengers and cars capsized off the Belgian coast is the fifth major incident involving an English Channel passenger vessel in the last five years.
The worst previous accident occurred in December, 1982, when the European Gateway, which like the Herald of Free Enterprise in Friday’s accident was owned by the British Townsend-Thoresen company, sank off England’s east coast near Felixstowe after a collision with another ferry. Six people died.
Four people were killed and one person was seriously hurt when a Hovercraft traveling from Calais, France, was dashed against a breakwater in Dover by huge waves in March, 1985.
In June, 1985, the passenger ferry Norland was involved in a collision that put a 15-foot gash in its starboard side. All 830 people aboard were rescued and no one was hurt.
Three months ago, 300 people were evacuated from the ferry Sitkilian en route from Le Havre to Britain after a fire broke out. No one was hurt.
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