Cape Palos
The ship ran aground on the "Punta Hormigas", a reef off Hormigas Island, two and a half miles east of Cape Palos, Cartagena, Spain. According to an eyewitness, the captain of the French steamer "Marie Louise", she was "taking a dangerous course" when he saw her stop, her bow lifting. The boilers exploded, and "dead bodies began to float past the French steamer, and those on board could hear the shrieks of the drowning." A boat was launched that saved 29 passengers, while the "Marie Louise" herself saved another 25. Three-hundred passengers, most of them Italian and Spanish, lost their lives.