OVER 200 DEAD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 214, 10 September 1934, Page 7

OVER 200 DEAD.

BLAZING SHIP HORROR. U.S. PLEASURE LINER TRAGEDY. FLAMES TRAP SLEEPING PASSENGERS. CREW CRITICISED FOR TAKING TO BOATS. Following a farewell party on the American Ward liner Morro Castle, after a pleasure cruise to Havana, and while several of the passengers were still in the cocktail bar, fire broke out in the early hours of Saturday morning. It is stated that so sudden was the spread of the fire that it was found impossible to arouse the sleeping passengers, many of whom, it is feared, perished in the flames. The boat deck was cut off from access, and the first boats to leave the doomed vessel contained mostly members of the crew, a circumstance that has been severely criticised. . Many vessels responded to the S.O.S. call from the burning liner, and the latest information is that 31 4 were rescued. The same source reports that 186 bodies were recovered and 27 are missing and undoubtedly dead. The still burning hull was beached and officials boarded the vessel for examination. Though sensational rumours were spread regarding the cause of the fire, no official statement has been issued concerning the origin of the tragedy.