Buṭrus Samaan was a child passenger on the Titanic.
Background[]
Buṭrus was a Syrian, born in the early 1900’s. He is believed to be from Hardin but more information about his background is missing. Hardin was under the authority of the Turkish Ottoman Empire and much later became part of the new country named Lebanon.
Buṭrus could have been part of the group of Ḥannā Ilyas Samaan, that headed for the American town Wilkes-Barre, sitatuated in Pennsylvania, leaving Hardin behind in the Spring of 1912. Simpy put, their route led to Beirut first, where they took passage on a ship to Marseilles, received health checks and were cleared to go with a train to the North, via Paris. We can't be sure that Samaan followed that same route. It's very likely however as nearly all of Syrian passengers described went that way.
Titanic[]
What is clear in any case, is that the young master Samaan was in Cherbourg on the 10th of April, in the evening, when the Titanic visited the harbor, but didn’t come closer as it wasn’t deep enough for her. As Third Class passengers, Samaan and many other Syrians were embarking on a tender that brough them to the giant vessel. Then she left for New York, after stopping first for more passengers in Queenstown.
On April 14, late at night, the ill fate bestowed upon Titanic came to pass. As the ship had hit hardly any trouble for the four days she was at sea, she now faced something bigger, which she did hit.
It was hard to see, as well as hard to avoid. Titanic’s lookouts had somehow not become aware of it until it was right in front of them, less than half a mile away. It was an iceberg and it meant trouble for Titanic, which had less than a minute to steer around it. This didn’t succeed and she struck it on starboard side, sustaining small but significant damages underneath the waterline. The sea entered the ship and, soon, tons of water were inside the hull.
On April 15, at midnight, the Captain and the ship’s designer were on the bridge. After inspecting Titanic’s damage, Thomas Andrews, who created the fabulous ship, knew that she couldn’t stay afloat like this. Upon hearing his words, Captain Smith got his men to ready the lifeboats.
What happened to Buṭrus Samaan that night remains in the dark, but what is known is that he was not in a lifeboat and thus became a victim when Titanic sank. She was completely submerged, broke with her stern high up in the air and settled at 2:20 A.M. Many of the passengers and crew were helpless in the freezing waters and most would last but half and hour or less.
The body of the young Buṭrus Samaan was never found.