LONDON - Barbara West Dainton, believed to be one of the last two survivors from the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, has died in England at age 96. The last American survivor, Lillian Gertrud Asplund, died in Massachusetts last year at age 99.
Sir Osmond Swayne, Titanic historian, explained that the deaths of Ms. Dainton and Ms. Asplund within a year of each other are an "astounding" coincidence. "What are the odds that two women in their late 90s would just happen to die in the same year? And doesn't it strike you as an incredible contrivance that they both supposedly died of 'natural causes' connected with old age? Or that they both just happened to live in nursing homes, one in England, the other in the United States? No, this is more than coincidence. There is only one possible explanation: the curse of the Titanic," he explained.
Sir Osmond explained that the "Curse of the Titanic" has been taking lives gradually since 1912. "The curse actually started with the sinking, because many lives were lost that night."
He added that "no one who was on that boat that night is safe."
