Spain marks WWI anniversary of boat’s sinking near Cape Town
JOHANNESBURG – Spanish officials in South Africa are marking the centenary of the sinking of a steamer vessel that killed 134 Spanish passengers and crew members during World War I.
The Spanish boat Carlos de Eizaguirre hit a German mine that had been part of a naval blockade near Cape Town on May 26, 1917. The vessel was travelling on a regular route between Barcelona in Spain and Manila in the Philippines. Spain was neutral during the war.
Spanish diplomats have planned tributes Friday in Cape Town and are thanking the city for helping the 25 survivors who reached its harbour.
The Carlos de Eizaguirre sank in the Atlantic Ocean between Dassen Island and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was jailed during the apartheid era that ended in 1994.
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