September 28, 1994: The Sinking of MS Estonia

September 28, 1994: MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea, en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden, killing 852 people – including 50 Swedes, 285 Estonians, 1 Canadian and 1 Englishman, but no Americans. There were 137 survivors.

The "cruiseferry" was built in 1980, for the Finnish shipping company Rederi Ab Sally. It was employed on ferry routes between Finland and Sweden by various companies, under the names Viking Sally until 1990, Silja Star until 1991, and then Wasa King until 1993.

At that point, it was sold to Nordström & Thulin, for use on Estline's Tallinn-Stockholm route. The 263-mile ferry trip usually takes about 10 1/2 hours. But on September 28, 1994, according to an official inquiry, failure of the locks on the bow visor caused water to flood the car deck, and quickly capsize the ship.

It remains the worst peacetime maritime disaster in European waters. Memorials have been dedicated in both terminal cities.

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September 28, 1994 was a Wednesday. Baseball's Strike of '94 was on, football was in midweek, and it was too early for the NBA and NHL seasons to be playing.

But there were games in European soccer's UEFA Champions League, and, since this was an event in Europe, those results are worth posting:

* The most controversial of these games was played at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, a.k.a. the San Siro, in Milan, Italy, AC Milan were playing Austrian team Casino Salzburg, when Casino's goalkeeper, Otto Konrad, was hit on the head with a plastic bottle thrown from the stands. He had to be substituted and taken to the hospital. Milan won, 3-0, but, as punishment for failing to control their fans, UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, docked them 2 points in the CL table, and were banned from playing their next 2 official home matches at the San Siro.

* Manchester United and Galatasaray played to a draw, 0-0 at Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Gala's home, in Istanbul, Turkey.

* SL Benfica beat RSC Anderlecht of Belgium, 3-1 at the old Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal.

* IFK Göteborg beat FC Barcelona, 2-1 at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg, Sweden.

* Bayern Munich beat Dynamo Kyiv, 1-0 at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany.

* AFC Ajax, of Amsterdam, beat AEK Athens, 2-1 at Nikos Goumas Stadium in Athens, Greece.

* Hajduk Split of Croatia beat Steaua București, 1-0 at Stadionul Steaua in Bucharest, Romania.

* And Paris Saint-Germain beat Spartak Moscow, 2-1 at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia.