史上今日：September 28
The Kennedys drive through the streets of Dallas moments before hisdeath
1964: Kennedy murder was 'no conspiracy'
England have
There was no conspiracy surrounding the death of President Kennedy but
there were serious failures by those responsible for his protection, according
to a government report.
The 300,000-word document, prepared by a special commission set up by
President Johnson to investigate the assassination, ends months of speculation
about the death of the president on 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas.
The commission, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren of the Supreme Court,
concludes in its report that gunman Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he fired
three rifle shots at the president from the Texas School Book Depository.
It rules out suggestions that Oswald, 24, had an accomplice and that shots
were fired from an overpass situated in front of the president's car.
It states that Oswald was also to blame for shooting a police officer with
arevolverapproximately three-quarters of an hour later on a Dallas street.
Ballistics analysis revealed both guns were owned by Oswald.
The report also found that Jack Ruby, 53, who shot Oswald dead two days
after the president's death at a Dallas police station also acted on his own
initiative.
But the security services responsible for protecting the president were
severely criticised by the report.
The Secret Service was criticised for not taking adequate safety
precautions prior to the trip and for not liaising enough with other government
departments.
It is understood the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI), the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Office of Naval Intelligence all had dossiers
on Oswald prior to the shooting following his defection from Russia to America
in 1961.
The Secret Service, however, was unaware of his existence, the report
stated.
The FBI was criticised for taking "an unduly restrictive view of its
responsibilities in preventive intelligence work prior to the
assassination."
The press and the media were also criticised for turning Dallas police
station into "bedlam" after the assassination and the police officers themselves
were condemned for not following correct interviewing procedures when quizzing
Oswald about the shooting.
Water is reported to have flooded in through an open bay doo
1994: Hundreds feared dead in ferry disaster
Artificially 1969:
A car and passenger ferry, MS Estonia, has sunk in the Baltic Sea with 950
people on board.
The Estline ferry was sailing from Estonia to Sweden in bad weather and
heavy seas when it sent a distress signal saying it was listing heavily.
About 30 people have been rescued, but officials say hopes of finding other
passengers alive in the extremely cold waters are fading rapidly.
A crew member who survived the accident has told the BBC he had seen a
loading bay door open and taking in water minutes before the MS Estonia
sunk.
The last message from the stricken ferry - which was carrying mainly
Swedish passengers from Tallinn to Stockholm - was received by the Finnish
Coastguard at 0124 BST.
Survivors reported the boat sank within five minutes.
Helicopters and ships are still searching the area where the ferry went
down, but the Finnish Coastguard said weather and sea conditions were terrible
and the water temperature was only 8C.
Another rescue official said it was likely they would rescue only a
fraction of the total number on board.
"It is very terrible work but we will do our best," he told the BBC.
A Swedish Maritime Safety official, Anders Lindstrom, said he had
checkedwatertightseals on the ferry only 24 hours ago and found they were not
safe.
"Had they looked at the vessel they would have found out the port at the
front was not acceptable - there was some damage to it," he said.
Mr Lindstrom added there had also been complaints about the crew's ability
to seal cargo correctly.
But a representative for Estline defended the shipping company's position
at a news conference saying no conclusions should be drawn until a full
investigation.
Vocabulary:
revolver: A pistol having a revolving cylinder with several cartridge
chambers that may be fired in succession(左轮手枪)
watertight:so tightly made that water cannot enter or escape(防水的;不漏水的)
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