Evening star., 1948-06-11
150DanesLost
AsMine Sinks
Ship al Dawn
Vessel Carrying 400
Goes Down Within 10
Minutes in Kottegot
PASSENGERS LEAP Into Sea in
Panic With Children. Page A-3.
BY the Assoeioted Press

BY the AsSocioted Press
AALBORG, Denmark, June IL
About $50 Danes drowned to-
day when the passenger vessel
Kioebenhavn struck a World
War II mine and blew up in the
kattegat.
The vessel, carrying 400 passen-
gers, went down 10 minutes after
the dawn explosion ripped her
apart. Scores of sleeping passengers
were drowned in their berths. Many
saved their lives by diving from the
deck of the sinking vessel.
26I Survivors Listed.
The 1,668-ton steamer, owned by
the United Steamship Co. ID. F.
d. S., was en- route from Copen-
hagen to Aalborg. Jutland, north
west of Copenhagen across the
Kattegat.
The company published the
names of 261 survivors, some OF
them crew members. Spokesman
expressed fear that all the rest were
lost.
Divers went to work quickly. but
long after they began their search
there were no reports that any new
survivors had been picked up.
Rescue crews said nine corpses
were picked up by patroling craft
at sea.
Tanker First to Reach Shore.
The first vessel to reach shore
from the scene of the disaster was
tie Danish tanker Dangulf Lube,
which carried 13 severely wounded.
She touched at the small Halls har-
Dor at 9 am. Ambulances were
waiting and the survivors were
hurried to the local hospital, where
doctors had been standing by since
early morning.
The company said the ship went
down 4 miles south of the Aalbore
Bay lightship, in the northern part
of the Kattegat. Early reports to
the company, it said. indicated only
two lifeboats were lowered before
the vessel sank.
Many ships in the area hurried to
the scene and one, the Frigga. also
owned by the DFDS company. re-
ported that she had picked up about
200 passengers from the sunken ship.
Many of them. the Frigga reported,
suffered severe Wounas and others
were suffering from exposure.
Planes Drop Lifebelts.
A report said % members of the
crew we're rescued. Planes dropped
lifebelts to passengers swimming in
the sea. About 1000 fishing vessels
rushed to the scene after receiving
distress signals.
Crowds of relatives of crew mem
bers and passengers assembled in
front of the D. F. D. S. Office in
Copenhagen.
The only complete passenger list
was aboard the Kjoebenhavn, and
company officials in Copenhagen are
trying to reconstruct it.
The Danish state railway put
three extra trains into service from
Copenhagen to Aalborg. They will
stop en- route to pick up relatives,
who will be carried to Northern
Jutland free of cost.
200 Believed Asleep.
One official said about 200 OF
the passengers probably were asleep
in their berths when the explosion
occurred. The rest travelled steer
age and most of them spent the
night In deck chairs.
When news of the disaster spread
in Copenhagen flags were lowered
to half mast on all ships in the
harbor. Aalborg City is also In
mourning.
The Danish state radio cancelled
its regular programs to send out
news bulletins of the disaster.
The company said the Kjoeben-
havn sank in shallow waters, de-
clared out of danger to shipping
after they had been mineswept since
the war. The superstructure of the
vessel is reported to be above water