Titanic tragedy remembered in special events

The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic is being remembered at events across the world, including in the ship's birthplace Belfast. A memorial service was held at the North Atlantic wreck site on cruise ship Balmoral, which is retracing the Titanic's route. A minute's silence was held and wreaths cast into the sea at the moment it sank to honour the more than 1,500 deaths. One passenger said it was "eerily quiet... it must have been horrendous".

A visitor centre opened two weeks ago in Belfast on the Harland and Wolff slipway, where Titanic was built. The £97m ($153m) building has already attracted more than 45,000 visitors. In nearby Belfast city centre, the Titanic Memorial Garden was completed this weekend, just in time for the 100th anniversary.

Passengers and crew members on Balmoral listened in silence as the names were read out of those who died when the liner sank on its maiden voyage. Those on board also said prayers, and many relatives of those who died shed tears during the service. Jane Allen's great uncle, Thomas Pears, was one of those who died. Explaining the emotions she felt during the service, she said, "It was just so eerily quiet. And then you look down over the side of the ship and you realise that every man and woman who was not fortunate enough to get into a lifeboat had to make that decision of when to jump or to stay with the ship, until the lights went out. And when the lights went out it must have been horrendous. We witnessed that tonight."

Melinda Norris, whose relative - Charles Lightoller - was a crew member who survived, said, "You still get a chill just looking at that water, imagining you have to go into it. We've been listening to the names of the 1,500 people who died. It's just an unimaginable amount of suffering took place here so it's surreal to be here."

People who survived the Tragedy

Richard Hyman's great-grandfather was also on board Titanic and lived to tell the tale. Mr Hyman said: "You imagine it's pitch black, freezing cold, nothing is anywhere near you other than an iceberg. The fear that must have been with all those people who were either stuck on the ship or in a lifeboat, not knowing whether they were going to survive or not. And people did freeze to death as well, even though they'd survived the disaster."

Another cruise ship, Journey, which has travelled from New York, also held a service at the site of the disaster, which occurred 400 miles (640km) off the coast of Newfoundland. A bronze memorial to those who died when the Titanic sank is due to be unveiled in the center of Belfast, a short distance from where the ship was built.

The sinking is also being remembered in other parts of the globe. Titanic exhibitions are being hosted in Las Vegas, San Diego, Houston and Singapore. 

Occasion Details

 In the middle of the Atlantic a ship's whistle sounded to mark exactly 100 years since the Titanic struck an iceberg.

 At that moment passengers stood in silence on the decks all around the MS Balmoral looking out into the darkness.

 Hundreds of miles from land some imagined the despair they would have felt being lowered into the sea in a lifeboat. Others thought of their relatives who had drowned here a century earlier.

 After the excitement of the departure and earlier days at sea, the ship seemed eerily quiet.

 In the cold of the north Atlantic one person described the atmosphere as "almost ghostly".

 The Balmoral had traced the route of the Titanic from Southampton to the spot where the ship sank. There it was met by another vessel that had travelled from New York, the destination Titanic never reached.

 The ships sat side-by-side thousands of metres above the wreckage, allowing passengers to pay tribute at what some relatives regard as a grave site.