Four soldiers and three policemen were killed at sea when the fireworks they were disposing of exploded, leaving one survivor and the nation speechless...
That was 25 years ago. The anniversary of the tragedy will be marked by the army and police today in a ceremony where a monument will be unveiled at the Maritime Squadron's base at Haywharf.
On September 7, 1984, the five soldiers, escorted by the three policemen, left the Maritime Battery in Senglea on board patrol boat C23 to dispose of the petards, which had been manufactured illegally, about five miles off Comino.
The next day, The Times wrote: "An angler who was with his family at Marfa said he was fishing when he was disturbed by an explosion. He looked in the direction the sound had come from, he said, and saw a heavy pall of smoke rising into the air."
The explosion took the lives of Bombardier Joseph Pace, 36, Gunner William Simpson, 26, Private Anthony Vella, 20, Sergeant Salvu Muscat, 30, and Constable Joseph Hare, 24.
To this day, Bombardier Francis Borg, 36, and Private Anthony Farrugia, 27, were never found and are presumed dead.
Private Emmanuel Montesin, 21, who happened to be in the boat's wheelhouse at the time, escaped unscathed, albeit suffering from shock.
Then President Agatha Barbara and Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, together with all the ministers, the Archbishop's Curia, the Nationalist Party and Union Ħaddiema Maqgħudin, had expressed their condolences to the deceased's families and a national day of mourning was declared.
On September 11, 1984, flags were flying at half mast as hundreds flocked to the state funeral of the three soldiers and two policemen, which was held with full military honours.
Unfortunately, Bombardier Borg and Private Farrugia could not be honoured in the same way.
Patrol boats C23 and C24 were given to the Maritime Battery by the US in 1971 and, to this day, perform routine patrols for smuggling and illegal immigration. They are expected to be commissioned at the end of the year.
kbugeja@timesofmalta.com