SHIP SINKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 August 1921, Page 5

SHIP SINKS.

STRIKES REEF IN FOG. MANY DROWNED. WILD SCENES ON BOARD.. LIFE BOAT CAPSIZES. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Vancouver, August 7. The steamer Alaska, bound from San Francisco to Portland, struck a reef during a fog at night on the Californian coast, and sank quickly. Over a hundred people were drowned. Received August 8, 5.5 p.m. New York, August 7. It is reported that one of the 'five lifeboats of the Alaska capsized and the occupants were drowned. Nine bodies have been recovered. Telegrams from Eureka, California, say that full details of the Alaska disaster are not yet available. The steamer struck Blunt’s Reef, off Cape Mendocino, the most westerly point of California, at 10 o’clock on Saturday night, and sank within fifteen minutes.

The vessel carried 240 passengers and crew, and while it is hoped some may yet be found on rafts it is believed 36 persons still missing may be among the lost.

Two vessels which rushed to the Alaska’s aid on receipt of a wireless call are still standing by looking for the lost people on a foggy sea. Tugs from time to time bring ashore dead bodies, and twelve have already been landed. Passengers declare there were wild scenes on board the Alaska as she listed to starboard. Frenzied people leaped overboard, and men, women and children were piled into lifeboats, so that it is a wonder only one of the five boats capsized. The wireless operator is believed to have stuck to the ship until she foundered. The Alaska plied between Portland and San Francisco.

Other messages put the number drowned at 48.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.