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On the night of March the 6th, 1987, the Townsend Thoresen car ferry "Herald of Free Enterprise"
had just left the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, heading for Dover. Passengers were making
for the bars and restaurants, or just taking their seats when suddenly the eight thousand
ton ship rolled onto its side and sank. She was just a mile out of port.
The water was comparatively shallow but bitterly cold. Rescuers were on the scene within minutes.
They had to be, survival time in the water was about twenty minutes.
The disaster had happened so quickly there hadn't been time to send an SOS message. As
the ship turned over, passengers and crew were thrown to the bottom. Water began to
rush in through the open bow doors. Those who managed to escape did so by clinging to
the topside of the upturned boat, smashing their way out through windows and portholes.
Survivors told some remarkable stories of bravery. One man made a human bridge of himself
so that his wife and family could walk over him to safety. When they were out they shouted
to him to follow. He refused. Others were below, he said, waiting to escape. He was
never seen again. It was by far Britain's worst ferry disaster.
More than two hundred people died. A fund was set up for the survivors and the families
of the victims and the Government announced a series of new safety measures for roll on/roll
off cross- channel ferries. The following day, the full extent of the
tragedy could clearly be seen. Since then, the rules have been changed. All doors now
have to be closed before the ships leave port. For the victims of the Zeebrugge tragedy,
it all came too late.