AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

BELFAST: Wreaths were cast at sea and a memorial garden was unveiled today in events worldwide to remember the more than 1,500 people who died in the sinking of the Titanic ocean liner exactly a century ago.

In Belfast, the city that built the Titanic, a memorial garden containing the first-ever monument to contain all the victims’ names was unveiled during a commemorative service attended by about 300 members of the public.

Earlier, wreaths were thrown into the Atlantic at the site of the wreck from MS Balmoral, a cruise ship that has traced the doomed liner’s route across the ocean, while people also held a minute’s silence.

And in Halifax, the Canadian port city from where ships sailed to retrieve bodies from the icy Atlantic waters following the sinking on April 15, 1912, and where 150 of Titanic’s victims are buried, church bells pierced the night. The Titanic went down after hitting an iceberg about 800 kilometres southeast of Halifax.

In total, around 50 people on board the 12-night Titanic Memorial Cruise have a direct family connection to the sinking.

Overnight, the MS Balmoral — which has travelled from the English port of Southampton in England — and the Azamara Journey from New York City approached each other at the site where the Titanic went down to witness a partial reenactment.

The Azamara Journey’s captain announced a collision and a commemorative distress call. “Have struck iceberg. We require immediate assistance,” read the message. “Have struck iceberg and sinking. We are putting women off in boats.”

The Titanic had been sailing from Southampton on its maiden voyage towards New York when it sank.

In Northern Ireland, a few hundred people attended a commemorative service outside Belfast City Hall. The Belfast memorial garden contains a nine-metre-wide plinth bearing five bronze plaques engraved with the names of the victims. It is the first time the names of everyone who died has been recorded on one monument. There is no distinction between first-class passengers and others, with names simply listed in alphabetical order.

In Lichfield, England, more than 1,500 candles were laid yesterday at the foot of the statue of Edward Smith, the Titanic’s captain.

In Halifax, marchers carried candles and followed a horse-drawn carriage bearing a casket, stopping at some Titanic landmarks.

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