Titanic survivor's account auctioned for $32,000

A first-person account of the sinking of the Titanic has fetched $32,000 in a British auction. The affidavit signed by Laura Francatelli, who got away in a lifeboat, easily topped its pre-sale estimate of $24,000.

A first-person account of the sinking of the Titanic has fetched 20,000 pounds ($32,000) in a British auction.

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The affidavit signed by Laura Francatelli, who got away in a lifeboat, easily topped its pre-sale estimate of 15,000 pounds ($24,000). It was bought by an anonymous collector from eastern Europe.

The most expensive item in Saturday's sale was a poster of the Titanic, which went for 60,000 pounds ($96,000) to an anonymous US collector.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge of Henry Aldridge & Son says it is the highest price ever paid for a poster of the doomed ship.

In Francatelli's affidavit, she spoke of hearing an "awful rumbling" as the Titanic sunk in the icy North Atlantic.