At least one victim was buried at the Addolorata Cemetery. Captain Littler's remains were later returned to England and reburied there. An inquiry found that the fire originated in No. 2 hold and it was probably caused through the pilgrims' carelessness due to cooking fires on deck. The inquiry found that there were no precautions to prevent fire on board the vessel. The "Sardinia" disaster is regarded as Malta's worst peacetime maritime disaster, and it has been called Malta's counterpart of the "Titanic". Although the "Sardinia" was smaller and carried far fewer passengers than "Titanic", the comparison was made because of the large proportion of lower class passengers who perished in the disaster.