Syria Park in Nausori is named after a ship that was shipwrecked on Nasilai Reef in the 1800s.
Historical records claim that on May 11, 1884, Syria was sailing towards the Suva peninsula, shortly after sighting Kadavu, when it struck the reef.
That made the Syria tragedy the worst maritime mishap ever recorded in The Fiji Times in the late 19th century.
Syria left Calcutta, India on March 13, 1884 with 497 Indian immigrants who were on their way to Fiji to work on commercial plantations. Apart from passengers, Captain Charles Belson, three officers (1st, 2nd and 3rd mates) and 42 crew members from Calcutta were part of the ill-fated trip.
The Syria struck Nasilai Reef after 8pm when there was no visibility.
Captain Belson and crew did the best they could for their passengers that evening.
“The next morning, when the wreckage was seen from the Fijian villages and word of it spread, Fijian canoes came and helped the coolies endlessly for the next two days, to safety. Most of the helpers did not rest until the work of helping the coolies were completed,” The Fiji Times of May 11, 1984 said.
“On the third day, Wednesday May 14, 1884, the final count of immigrants was taken at Nukulau; after all the survivors had arrived they revealed that 57 of them had lost their lives on Nasilai reef.”
“Perhaps the most moving scene was that of 10 men who were left to their fate on a sandbank as the last boat already too full of people left the shipwreck in encroaching darkness.”
Later, attempts to find the men on the night of the rescue failed. They were believed to have drowned.
Among those who died were 32 men, 15 women, five girls, three boys and two babies.
(For more on this story check out Soul Living in The Sunday Times, November 3.) To celebrate our 150th anniversary, we invite readers to share any of their favourite experiences and memories of The Fiji Times. Articles between 200-300 words can be emailed to editor@fijitimes.com.fj
