Estonia remembers tragic ferry disaster twenty years on

Estonia has marked 20 years since the sinking of a ferry disaster that killed more than 800 people on board. 

A total of 852 people died on board the M/S Ferry on September 28, 1994 after it sank en route to Stockholm. Up to 137 passengers escaped the disaster.

Paying tribute to the victims, Tallinn mayor Edgar Savisaar said the sinking was the most tragic event in recent Estonian history

"It affected all of us. Some very directly, some indirectly, but the sadness was and is in all our hearts," said Savisaar.

"I remember how at that stormy night, the mind refused to believe the scanty news that arrived that something irreversible has happened. It seemed unjust and foolish."

A six hour ceremony was held in Tallinn on Saturday to mark the time it took for the ferry to leave before disaster struck.