5 Dead, 110 Missing as Ferry Capsizes in English Channel : 430 Rescued Among Over 500 Aboard

A British-owned ferry with more than 500 people aboard capsized near the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on Friday evening, spilling hundreds into the frigid waters of the English Channel, killing at least five people and trapping scores more inside the hull.

“The ship’s rolled over,” said William Budd, captain of a nearby British ship that responded to emergency calls. “There’s panic and confusion everywhere.”

“People were screaming and shouting,” Rosina Summerfield, a rescued passenger, said in a broadcast interview. “We were trapped inside. There were children, people, screaming. They were crying. People were floating everywhere. It was terrifying.”

Conflicting Tolls

As divers and a small armada of ships and helicopters from four nations worked into the early hours this morning, British and Belgian officials said that about 300 people had been rescued from the stricken ship, The Herald of Free Enterprise.

However, there were conflicting casualty tolls. Officials at the British port of Dover said that 26 had died and that 240 people remained missing, with hope for their rescue fading with each hour.

But a spokesman for the ship’s British owner, Townsend-Thoresen, reported five people dead and 110 still missing. He said that 350 passengers and all 80 crew members were safe.

Divers at the scene reported seeing trapped passengers through portholes inside the hull. They indicated that there were air pockets allowing the passengers to breathe.

40-Degree Seas

The weather in the area was reported cold, with the sea temperature at about 40 degrees, but the water was calm.

A British Broadcasting Corp. report late Friday carried emotional accounts of dazed passengers walking atop the ferry’s overturned hull.

Belgian authorities broadcast emergency appeals over the country’s radio stations for qualified divers to go to Zeebrugge and assist in the rescue operations.

Divers from Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands were reportedly at the scene, plus military ships and helicopters from those three nations and France.

About 80 of those rescued by boat and helicopter were treated for injuries at hospitals in the nearby town of Blankenberg or the city of Brugges, eight miles east of Zeebrugge.

Busy Shipping Lane

Richard Mills, a spokesman for Townsend-Thoresen, said the cross-channel car ferry was carrying 463 passengers and a crew of 80 as it sailed from Zeebrugge at sunset.

The narrow stretch at the eastern end of the English Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. More than 100 vessels operate regular cross-channel passenger and car services between Britain and ports along the French, Belgian and Dutch coasts.

Many of the passengers were said to be British servicemen and their families traveling from continental military bases to Britain for the weekend.

Early today, there were conflicting reports about how the ship capsized. Several eyewitness accounts and statements by shipping officials in Belgium and Britain indicated that the 7,951-ton vessel struck a pier at the harbor entrance, rolled over on its side and sank, leaving about a third of its hull above water.

Bow Door Failure

Townsend-Thoresen said the disaster was caused by the failure of the ferry’s bow door, which burst open and allowed water to cascade into the lower car decks.

Like many car ferries that ply the English Channel, the ship has large bow doors that, when open, permit cars and trucks to drive on and off.

Other reports indicated that the ferry may have struck a sand bank near the harbor entrance.

A more detailed report carried on Britain’s Independent Television News said the ferry hit the eastern pier of a harbor entrance extension still under construction.

This collision weakened the bow door, which eventually buckled under pressure from sea swells, causing the ship to heel over on its side.

Witnesses described chaotic scenes aboard the stricken vessel.

‘A Sudden Crash’

Passenger Summerfield, who said she was in the ship’s cafeteria, sobbed as she related her ordeal to a BBC reporter:

“All of a sudden there was a crash, and the boat fell sideways,” she said. “We thought it was going to correct itself, but it just fell further until it was completely on its side.”

She said she was rescued after huddling 20 minutes in a dark stairway as water poured in around her.

“The water was coming up further, and we were climbing the stairs further and further to try to get out of the water,” she said. “After (we spent) about 20 minutes of sitting there crying, the rescue workers smashed the windows and pulled us through.”

Summerfield’s account was one of the few eyewitness descriptions in the early hours after the disaster.

‘Everybody Scrambled’

When asked if rescuers took women and children first, she replied, “God, no; everybody just scrambled.”

In London, television and radio stations broadcast emergency numbers for family and friends to call for information.

According to Townsend-Thoresen, The Herald of Free Enterprise is a British-registered vessel that operates between Zeebrugge and Dover.

It was built in West Germany and launched seven years ago.