Four Days Adrift On Raft With Dead Companions
(Received 2 p.m.) LONDON. January 24. Parched, frost-bitten and semidelirious, Stigand Bergstrom, a survivor of the Swedish steamer Foxen (1304 tons), which sank after an explosion in the North Sea, causing the death of 18 of the crew, landed after four days adrift on a raft surrounded by bodies. His sole subsistence was a tin of salt beef opened with an iron nail. A search steamer missed the nine castaways in the darkness. The cook and a mess boy froze to death and were thrown overboard. A fireman, maddened by drinking seawater, followed. A steam trawler which passed 50 yards away failed to hear their cries. Two brothers then died and Bergstrom awoke and saw his own brother in the sea. He was powerless to save him. His last two shipmates succumbed three hours before the arrival of the rescue steamer Leka, which also saved survivors of another steamer who were clinging to an - overturned boat, under which were two bodies.
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Northern Advocate, 25 January 1940, Page 5
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169Four Days Adrift On Raft With Dead Companions Northern Advocate, 25 January 1940, Page 5
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