BOAT ACCIDENT-THIRTY LIVES LOST.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 605, 27 May 1876, Page 3

BOAT ACCIDENT-THIRTY LIVES LOST.

A telegram from Aberdeen on Ap-il sth says:—“ Yesterday afternoon a fatal accident occurred near the mouth of the River Dee, near Aberdeen, by which it is feared more than thirty persons have been drowned. Yesterday was the Sacramental Fast Day, observed as a general holiday, and as the weather was fine, an unusually large number of people went out of town on pleasure. A favorite resort on this day is the fishing Tojlaee of Tnrry, sWu-i'e on the opposite s'de oiythe Dee from Aberdeen. Although there is a suspension bridge about half a mile from the city, the majority of the people prefer a small ferry service, which plies at a point in connection with the principal thoroughfares of the city. In the early part of the day the overcrowding of the boats was with difficulty prevented, but as the day advanced the people got more unmanagable, till it was almost impossible to maintain order. About half-past three o’clock a rush took place to one of the boats, which became so overloaded that the gunwale touched the water. Tho boatmen refused to proceed with the boat until some of the passengers went out of it, but before anyone could disembark certain persons in the middle of the boat seized the machinery and set it in motion. When the craft reached mid stream it met the full force of the strong ebb current, and was immediately swamped. All the passengers, to the number of sixty, were plunged into the water. A scene of indescribable terror and confusion ensued. Attempts made to resene the struggling victims were all but useless, owing to the swiftness of the current. Out of sixty only twentynine have been saved, and one of these has since died from exhaustion. There are at least thirty missing, and up to a late hour no bodies were recovered. The banks of ttie river were crowded with anxious spectators, and the greatest excitement prevailed. It is impossib.e to make up a list of the drowned, bub meanwhile every effort is being made to recover the dead bodies.”