MS Estonia - Part 4
Addendum: The disappeared
In the immediate aftermath of Estonia’s sinking, relatives began scrambling for news of their loved ones aboard the ship. One person who understandably receives particular media attention is Estonia’s second in command, Captain Avo Piht.
On the morning of Sept 28th, Captain Moik, a friend of both Estonia’s captains, called Piht’s wife from Rostock to tell her that he and multiple colleagues had seen Piht on a German TV channel as he was being transferred from the ambulance to the hospital.
The 6PM news also reports that Piht is amongst the survivors.
Piht’s name then appears on multiple official lists issued by the Port of Tallinn, the Finnish embassy at Tallinn, Tallinn City Hall, and the Baltic News Service. However, later that day, his name is not on the list issued by the Turku police. No explanation is given for the change.
Estonian radio station Kuku broadcasts an interview with a Swedish helicopter crew member who says that he saved Piht. When Spiegel TV's Jutta Rabe later tried to obtain the interview tape, the station manager tells her that Estonian police have already confiscated it.
Additional witnesses involved in the immediate disaster response claim to have seen Piht in person, including a doctor in Turku.
Two days later, Reuters interviews Bengt-Erik Stenmark, safety chief of the SMA, who also says he had been in contact with Piht after the accident. Stenmark is fired shortly after but never retracts his statement.
On Oct 7, 1994 Interpol issues a message looking for Piht, reiterating that many witnesses had seen him. But Piht is never seen again.
Piht seemingly disappeared after he reached the Turku University Central Hospital. Attempts by family and friends to locate the video tape of the German news report in which Piht was seen were unsuccessful. Years later, a clip is uncovered appearing to show Piht in an ambulance.
More disturbingly, twin sisters (Hannely & Hanka-Hannika Veide), reportedly rescued from the same raft as Piht, also go missing. On Sept 29th, their brother, having seen on the news that his sisters are alive at Stockholm’s Huddinge hospital, calls his parents.
When the parents arrive at Huddinge to look for their daughters they are told that their daughters have drowned. Inexplicably, one twin’s name was recorded on the survivor list as “Anne” Veide, a nickname she went by that few others knew.
In total, 11 people initially confirmed as survivors turned up drowned days later or were never seen again. Several were listed with full names and dates of birth, information other survivors have said was verified multiple times by rescue workers and medical staff before being added to lists.
Even heroic rescue work gets retracted. Sailor Kenneth Svensson, who descended via helicopter to retrieve 9 survivors from the stormy sea and was awarded a medal for his efforts, eventually has his rescue total whittled down to 1 or 2 in the JAIC’s final report.
But without question, the most disturbing non-surviving survivor story is that of Kalev Vahtras, the ship’s store assistant.
The ship’s watchman, who was in the same ward in Turku hospital, confirmed that Vahtras had escaped the shipwreck easily, was in perfect condition & high-spirits.
Later in the day, Vahtras’ ward mate returned to find his bed gone and was told that he had been transferred. His body was later reported washed up on the coast of Finland. When the coffin was opened in Estonia, his body had apparent signs of violence.
Jutta Rabe: Estonian team member Kalev Vahtras was murdered (Eesti Päevaleht, Feb 28, 2002)
As a result of the chaos, many families are doubly traumatized, while many more are left bewildered. Did these surviving crew members pose a threat to the fraudulent bow visor theory and, as a result, become the final victims of one of the biggest cover-ups in recent history?
The flight records following the disaster may hold a clue. On 28 September 1994 an empty Gulfstream 4 landed at Stockholm’s Arlanda at 22:56 and departed the next day with five passengers at 17:13 to Bangor, Maine. Could the disappeared Estonians have been on board?
pure horror
Any updates on your twitter suspension? Do you have an alt?