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Estonia, Sweden mark 20th anniversary of ferry sinking disaster

Associated Press
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Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf lays a wreath of flowers in Stockholm, Sweden, Sunday Sept. 28, 2014, at the memorial for the victims of the catastrophic sinking of the MS Estonia. Crowds gathered to commemorate 852 people killed, including 501 Swedes, in one of Europe's worst peacetime disasters 20-years ago when the Estonia ferry sank en route from Tallinn to Stockholm on September 28, 1994. Only 173 people were rescued after the ship sank when its bow doors were ripped open in a storm in the early hours of the morning. (AP photo / TT News Agency, Claudio Bresciani) SWEDEN OUT (The Associated Press)

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf lays a wreath of flowers in Stockholm, Sweden, Sunday Sept. 28, 2014, at the memorial for the victims of the catastrophic sinking of the MS Estonia. Crowds gathered to commemorate 852 people killed, including 501 Swedes, in one of Europe's worst peacetime disasters 20-years ago when the Estonia ferry sank en route from Tallinn to Stockholm on September 28, 1994. Only 173 people were rescued after the ship sank when its bow doors were ripped open in a storm in the early hours of the morning. (AP photo / TT News Agency, Claudio Bresciani) SWEDEN OUT (The Associated Press)

Estonia and Sweden are paying tribute to the 852 people killed two decades ago when a passenger ferry sank in a storm on the Baltic Sea.

Hundreds of Estonians gathered Sunday to place flowers at the monument honoring the victims of M/S Estonia in central Tallinn after attending a memorial church concert late Saturday.

Various memorial events were also held in Stockholm on Sunday.

The ferry sank in heavy seas while on a voyage from Tallinn to Stockholm early on Sept. 28, 1994.