Thursday marked the 109th anniversary of one of the biggest maritime disasters of all time. In the early hours of April 15, 1912, the massive British passenger liner struck an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It never made it to its final destination of New York.

In the end, more than 1,500 passengers and crew died—mostly from drowning or the freezing waters.

Around 700 survived, among them six Chinese passengers. Frances Kuo reports.

A fact that has not come to light – until now – thanks to a new documentary being released in China on Friday—called “The Six.”

Eight Chinese nationals boarded the ship at Southampton, in the U.K. Their names appear in rigid cursive on a single ticket for third-class passengers: Ah Lam, Fang Lang, Len Lam, Cheong Foo, Chang Chip, Ling Hee, Lee Bing and Lee Ling.

They were on their way to New York, and then Cuba to work.

But only six survived, and they were detained and prevented from entering the United States, due to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

They were instead forced to board the Annetta, their intended ship of transfer, and the next day departed the country, bound for fruit ships in the Caribbean.

CGTN talked to the film’s director Arthur Jones about his documentary: