Confirming exactly how many died is impossible. The government’s official tally was 1,547 fatalities, which is about 30 more than were lost on the Titanic. But the consensus among contemporary historians is that 1,800 perished, making it America’s worst maritime disaster. Out of the 760 passengers who made it ashore, approximately 300 later died of burn wounds or from their prolonged immersion in the freezing Mississippi.
