IT IS one of those occasions that most people can remember where they were when they first heard the news that a cross-Channel ferry had capsized off the Belgian coast.

There was a sense of disbelief that such a thing could have happened, and then horror as the details began to unfold, and confusion gave way to more accurate information about the number of people who had died.

And there was a feeling of helplessness on this side of the Channel, too. We were all so far away that it was difficult to reach out and offer first-hand assistance to those affected.

Gradually, the scale of the tragedy became clear. Pictures of the ferry, on its side on a sandbank off the port of Zeebrugge, soon confirmed what some had feared.

The bow doors had still been open when the ship set sail. As a result, 193 people had died. But those who died were not the only victims.

Lives were scarred by the experiences they endured. Twenty years on, those scars remain. What happened that Friday night, March 6, 1987, is still a vivid memory for those who were involved.

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