LOSS OF GREEK STEAMER

Wanganui Chronicle, 22 January 1947, Page 5

LOSS OF GREEK STEAMER

MISSING NOW TOTAL 291 London, Jan. 20. It is reported from Athens that more survivors of the Heimara (which was wrongly named as the Chimarra in yesterday’s report) have been found at scattered points along the coast of Greece, and the missing now numoer 291. Th e Heimara carried 524 passengers and a crew of 88, and only 226 people have been accounted for. The Ministry of Public Order said that 45 political prisoners who were being exiled were on board under escort, but not in chains, as had been reported. The British United Press correspondent ip Athens says the Greek Admiralty ha s ordered an investigation into the conduct of the officers and crew of the Heimara. as the result of survivors’ charges that officers boarded the lifeboats after preventing passengers from doing so. The Navy Minister, M. Demetrios Londos, said it is unlikely that a loose mine caused the disaster, because minesweepers long ago completed their task of clearing Greek waters. Officials said it was not yet determined whether the sinking was due to a mine or to an internal explosion. Divers would examine the wreck. The crew criticised the Admiralty for allowing the Heimara to sail at night through a swept channel in the minefield only a mile wide.