Victims of march in September 2006 demanding the extradition of from the United States.This article lists notable industrial disasters, which are caused by companies, either by accident, or incompetence. They are a form of industrial where great damage, injury or loss of life are caused.Other disasters can also be considered industrial disasters, if their causes are rooted in the products or processes of industry. For example, the of 1871 was made more severe due to the heavy concentration of lumber industry facilities, wood houses, and fuel and other chemicals in a small area.The is designed to protect people and the environment from industrial accidents. The Convention aims to prevent accidents from occurring, to reduce their frequency and severity, and to mitigate their effects. The Convention addresses primarily industrial accidents in one country that affect the population and the environment of another country. Contents.Defense industry. December 6, 1917:.
A ship loaded with about 9,000 tons of high explosives destined for France caught fire as a result of a collision in harbour, and exploded. The explosion killed about 2,000 and injured about 9,000. October 4, 1918:. An ammunition plant in exploded, killing approximately 100 people, destroying 300 buildings and causing $18 million in damages. March 1, 1924:.
Nov 26, 2017 An industrial accident killed two people in China on Sunday, and there have been almost 30,000 more industrial deaths this year alone. Learn more about this.
A plant for processing ammonium nitrate in exploded, killing 24 people, injuring 100 and destroying several buildings. July 17, 1944:. A munitions explosion that killed 320 people occurred at the in. Nov 27, 1944:. Explosion of between 3500 and 4000 tonnes of ordnance in an underground munitions store that killed 70 people. August 9, 1965: in, Arkansas. 53 contract workers were killed during a fire at a.
The cause of the fire was determined to be a welding rod damaging a hydraulic hose. This allowed hydraulic vapors to leak and spread throughout the silo, which were then ignited by an open flame. April 13, 1976:. An explosion in a munitions factory in, kills 40 workers. April 10, 1988:. A military storage center in Rawalpindi, Pakistan exploded, killing more than 90 people. July 11, 2011:, Cyprus.
The disaster occurred when 98 containers of gunpowder exploded; 13 people were killed, among them the captain of the base, three commanders, twin brothers who were serving there as marines, and six firefighters. 62 people were injured and the explosion knocked out the island's power station for days.Energy industry. Deceased portraits used for an power protest in. October 1957: The, the worst nuclear accident in Great Britain's history, released substantial amounts of radioactive contamination into the surrounding area at Windscale, Cumberland (now Sellafield, Cumbria). May 1962: The began, forcing the gradual evacuation of the borough. The fire continues to burn in the abandoned borough. March 4, 1965: The Natchitoches explosion: A 32-inch gas transmission pipeline, north of, belonging to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline exploded and burned from stress corrosion cracking on March 4, killing 17 people.
At least 9 others were injured, and 7 homes 450 feet from the rupture were destroyed. The same pipeline had also had an explosion on May 9, 1955, just 930 feet (280 m) from the 1965 failure. March 1967: The was shipwrecked off the west coast of Cornwall, England, causing an environmental disaster. This was the first major at sea. August 1975: The failed in the Henan Province of China due to extraordinarily heavy precipitation from the remnants of and poor construction quality of the dam, which was built during the. The flood immediately killed over 100,000 people, and another 150,000 died of subsequent epidemic diseases and famine, bringing the total death toll to around 250,000 and making it the worst technical disaster ever.
March 16, 1978: The, a owned by the company Amoco (now merged with BP) sank near the northwest coast of France, resulting in the spilling of 68,684,000 US gallons of crude oil (1,635,000 barrels). This is the largest oil spill from an oil tanker in history. March 28, 1979:.
Partial nuclear meltdown. Mechanical failures in the non-nuclear secondary system, followed by a stuck-open in the primary system, allowed large amounts of reactor coolant to escape. Plant operators initially failed to recognize the loss of coolant, resulting in a partial meltdown. The reactor was brought under control but not before up to 481 (13 million ) of radioactive were released into the atmosphere. June 3, 1979:.
The Ixtoc I exploratory oil well suffered a resulting in the third-largest oil spill and the second-largest accidental spill in history. November 20, 1980: A Texaco oil rig drilled into a salt mine transforming, a freshwater lake before the accident, into a saltwater lake. February 15, 1982:.
The mobile offshore oil rig was struck by a rogue wave off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada and sank with the loss of all 84 crew. January 7, 1983: An in was felt for about 100–130 miles from the epicenter, but only claimed 1 life, and injured 22–24 people. July 23, 1984:, killed 19 people.
November 19, 1984:. An explosion at a liquid petroleum gas tank farm killed hundreds and injured thousands in San Juanico, Mexico. April 26, 1986:. At the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in a test on reactor number four went out of control, resulting in a. The ensuing steam explosion and fire killed up to 50 people with estimates that there may be between 4,000 and several hundred thousand additional cancer deaths over time. Fallout could be detected as far away as Canada.
The, covering portions of and Ukraine surrounding Prypiat, remains contaminated and mostly uninhabited. Prypiat itself was totally evacuated and remains as a. May 5, 1988:,. Hydrocarbon gas escaped from a corroded pipe in a and was ignited. Louisiana state police evacuated 2,800 residents from nearby neighborhoods.
Seven workers were killed and 42 injured. The total cost arising from the Norco blast is estimated at US$706 million. July 6, 1988:. An explosion and resulting fire on a North Sea oil production platform killed 167 men.
The total insured loss was about US$3.4 billion. To date it is rated as the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms both of lives lost and impact to industry.
March 24, 1989:. The, an bound for, hit 's, dumping an estimated minimum 10.8 million US gallons (40.9 million litres, or 250,000 barrels) of into the sea. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused ever to occur. 100,000 to as many as 250,000 seabirds died, as well as at least 2,800, approximately 12, 300, 247, and 22, and billions of salmon and herring eggs were destroyed. Overall reductions in population have been seen in various ocean animals, including stunted growth in pink salmon populations. Sea otters and ducks also showed higher in following years, partially because they ingested prey from contaminated soil and also from ingestion of oil residues on their hair/feathers due to grooming.
March 23, 2005:. An explosion occurred at a refinery in Texas City, Texas. It is the third largest refinery in the United States and one of the largest in the world, processing 433,000 barrels of crude oil per day and accounting for three percent of that nation's gasoline supply. Over 100 were injured, and 15 were confirmed dead, including employees of Jacobs, Fluor and BP. BP has since accepted that its employees contributed to the accident.
Several level indicators failed, leading to overfilling of a knockout drum, and light hydrocarbons concentrated at ground level throughout the area. A nearby running diesel truck set off the explosion. December 11, 2005:. A series of explosions at the Buncefield oil storage depot, described as the largest peacetime explosion in Europe, devastated the terminal and many surrounding properties. There were no fatalities. Total damages have been forecast as £750 million. December 19, 2007:.
Runaway reactor for production of gasoline additives explodes at Jacksonville, Florida, killing four. December 22, 2008.
1.1 billion gallons of were released when a dike ruptured at an at the 's in. August 17, 2009:. Seventy-five people were killed at a hydroelectric power station when a turbine failed. The failed turbine had been vibrating for a considerable time. Emergency doors to stop the incoming water took a long time to close, while a self-closing would have stopped the water in minutes. February 7, 2010:. A large explosion occurred at a Kleen Energy Systems 620-, gas- and oil- fired power plant in,.
Preliminary reports attributed the cause of the explosion to a test of the plant's energy systems. The plant was still under construction and scheduled to start supplying energy in June 2010. The number of injuries was eventually established to be 27.
Five people died in the explosion. Near Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2013. December 6, 2006:.
A gas leak triggered a large explosion and ensuing fire at a gear manufacturing facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Three were killed and 47 injured, with several of the buildings at the facility being leveled. April 18, 2007:. A ladle holding molten steel separated from the overhead iron rail, fell, tipped, and killed 32 workers, injuring another 6. February 1, 2008:. An unlicensed fireworks factory exploded accidentally, leaving by some reports at least 22 people dead and at least 100 injured. September 11, 2012:, 289 people died in, which made ready-to-wear clothing for Western export.
November 24, 2012:. A seven-story factory fire outside of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, killed at least 112 people, 12 from jumping out of windows to escape the blaze. April 24, 2013:. An eight-story factory building collapsed on the outskirts of, the capital of, and killed 1129 people. The building contained five garment factories that were manufacturing clothing for the western market.Mining industry See for more. December 12, 1866: in, United Kingdom. Caused by the explosion of.
It was the worst mining accident in England, with a death toll of 361. February 16, 1883: in, United States. 74 people died, including 6 children. March 10, 1906: in, France.
1,099 people died, including children, in the worst mine accident in Europe. December 6, 1907: in, West Virginia. 362 people officially died. The worst industrial accident in American history.
October 14, 1913:, the worst mining accident in the United Kingdom; 439 workers died. December 15, 1914: The Mitsubishi Hōjō mine disaster. A gas explosion at the Hōjō (Hojyo) coal mine, in, Japan, killed 687. It was the worst mining accident in Japan. April 26, 1942: disaster in,. 1,549 workers died, in the worst coal mine accident ever in the world. October 23, 1958:,.
A ',' or underground earthquake caused by a collapse, kills 75 miners. The other 99 miners are rescued by a recovery effort. Previous disasters had occurred at the same mine in 1891 and 1956. January 21, 1960: at the Clydesdale Colliery near, Orange Free State, South Africa. 435 miners died. It was the worst mining accident in South Africa.
May 9, 1960: Laobaidong mining disaster. A methane gas explosion in the Laobaidong coal mine at in the Shanxi province of China killed 684. November 9, 1963:. An explosion caused by the ignition of coal dust at the Miike coal mine in, Japan.
458 people were killed by the explosion or by carbon monoxide poisoning. 839 others were injured.
May 28, 1965: took place in, killing over 300 miners. October 21, 1966: was a catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil-tip that occurred in the village of Aberfan, killing 116 children and 28 adults. June 6, 1972: in (present-day ).
426 people were killed, making it the country's worst-ever mining disaster. July 19, 1985: took place in the village of Stava, near, when two tailings dams, used for sedimenting the mud from the nearby Prestavel mine, failed. It resulted in one of Italy's worst disasters, killing 268 people, destroying 63 buildings and demolishing eight bridges. May 9, 1992: in,.
A explosion kills all 26 miners. Canada's deadliest mining disaster since 1958. May 9, 1993:, Nambija,. Approximately 300 people were killed in a landslide. January 30, 2000: took place in,. The accident, called the worst environmental disaster in Europe since Chernobyl, was a release of 100,000 tons of cyanide-contaminated water into the rivers, and by an Aurul mining company due to a reservoir breach. Although no human fatalities were reported, the leak killed up to 80 percent of aquatic life in some of the affected rivers.
April 5, 2010:, West Virginia, United States. An explosion occurred in Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine.
Twenty-nine out of 31 miners at the site were killed. November 19, 2010: in New Zealand. At 3:45 pm, the coal mine exploded. Twenty-nine men underground died immediately, or shortly afterwards, from the blast or from the toxic atmosphere.
Two men in the stone drift, some distance from the mine workings, managed to escape. (Extract from Royal Commission of Inquiry Report on Pike River.).
May 13, 2014: in,. An explosion occurred two kilometers below the surface, starting a fire, which caused the mine's elevator to stop working. This trapped several hundred miners, many of whom died of poisoning. 787 workers were present during the disaster, and 301 of them died during the disaster. August 4, 2014: near.
A partial breach of the copper and gold mine tailings pond released 10 million cubic meters of water and 4.5 million cubic meters of slurry. There were no casualties. November 5, 2015: in, Brazil. An iron ore tailings dam suffered a catastrophic failure. The resultant flooding destroyed the village of Bento Rodrigues and killed 19 people. January 25, 2019: in, Brazil. An iron ore tailings dam suffered a catastrophic failure.
At least 233 people died. June 27, 2019: copper and cobalt mine collapse, Lualaba province,. The mine was being worked by illegal artisanal miners, 43 of whom were killed.Other industrial disasters. See also:. March 11, 1864: The.
The, at, collapsed when its reservoir was being filled for the first time. At least 240 people died, and 5000 properties were flooded. Historian Peter Machan said: 'In terms of Victorian England it was the greatest disaster in terms of loss of life, apart from maritime disasters'. January 20, 1909: Chicago Crib Disaster. During the construction of a water intake tunnel for the city of, a fire broke out on a temporary used to access an intermediate point along the tunnel. The fire began in the dynamite magazine and burned the wooden dormitory that housed the tunnel workers.
46 workers survived the fire by jumping into the lake and climbing onto or the near the crib. 29 men were burned beyond recognition, and approximately 60 men died. Most of the remainder drowned or froze to death in the lake and were not recovered. September 21, 1921: in. Occurred when a storing 4,500 of a mixture of and exploded at a plant in, now part of, killing 500–600 people and injuring about 2,000 more. 1927–1932:, near, West Virginia, United States.
Over several years, 476 workers died from silicosis. 1932–1968: The was caused by the dumping of compounds in Bay, Japan. The, a and later petrochemical company, was found responsible for polluting the bay for 37 years. It is estimated that over 3,000 people suffered various deformities, severe mercury poisoning symptoms or death from what became known as. April 16, 1947:, Texas. At 9:15 am an explosion occurred aboard a docked ship named the Grandcamp. The explosion, and subsequent fires and explosions, is referred to as the worst industrial disaster in America.
A minimum of 578 people lost their lives and another 3,500 were injured as the blast shattered windows from as far away as 25 mi (40 km). Large steel pieces were thrown more than a mile from the dock.
The origin of the explosion was fire in the cargo on board the ship. Detonation of 3,200 tons of fertilizer aboard the Grandcamp led to further explosions and fires. The fertilizer shipment was to aid the struggling farmers of Europe recovering from World War II. July 28, 1948: A within the 's, site caused 207 fatalities.
3,818 were injured, and 3,122 buildings were significantly affected. February 3, 1971: The at a chemical plant in killed 29 people and seriously injured 50. June 1, 1974:, England. An explosion at a chemical plant near the village of Flixborough killed 28 people and seriously injured another 36. 1972–1976: spills at, causing the evacuation and disincorporation of the 2,000-strong town starting 1983. It was the largest civilian exposure to dioxin in the ' history. July 10, 1976:, in, in a small chemical manufacturing plant of.
Due to the release of into the atmosphere and throughout a large section of the, 3,000 pets and farm animals died and, later, 70,000 animals were slaughtered to prevent dioxins from entering the food chain. In addition, 193 people in the affected areas suffered from and other symptoms. The disaster lead to the, which was issued by the and imposed much harsher industrial regulations. April 27, 1978:.
A for a under construction in, collapsed, killing 51 construction workers. The cause was attributed to placing loads on recently poured concrete before it had sufficiently to withstand the loads. It is thought to be the largest construction accident in United States history. October 12, 1978:. The Greek tanker Spyros exploded at Jurong Shipyard in Singapore on October 12, 1978. It killed 76 people, and remains the worst accident, in terms of lives lost, in Singapore's post-war history.
It is also Singapore's worst industrial accident. February 24, 1984: Occurred on the night in Cubatao, Brazil around 23:30 a gasoline pipeline exploded in the favela of Vila Sao Jose killing more than 100 people, the tragedy turned the eyes of the world to Cubatao and laid bare another problem: industrial pollution, since the 70s, gave the city the nickname 'Death Valley'. December 3, 1984: The in is one of the largest industrial disasters on record.
A in a tank containing poisonous caused the pressure relief system to vent large amounts to the atmosphere at a plant. Estimates of the death toll range from 4,000 to 20,000. The disaster caused the region's and populations severe problems to the present. November 1, 1986: The in Schweizerhalle, Switzerland released tons of toxic agrochemicals into the Rhine. June 28, 1988:. Improper mixing of chemicals at Bastian Plating Company killed four workers in the worst confined-space industrial accident in U.S.
History; a fifth victim died two days later. October 23, 1989:. An explosion and fire killed 23 and injured 314 in and registered 3.5 on the.
July 5, 1990: An explosion and fire occurred at the Arco Chemical Company complex in. 17 people were killed. Five were permanent employees and the remaining 12 were contract labor employees. An area approximately the size of a city block was completely destroyed; no one in the area survived the explosion. May 1, 1991:. An explosion at the IMC-operated Angus Chemical nitro-paraffin plant in Sterlington, Louisiana killed eight workers and injured 120 other people.
There was severe damage to the surrounding community. The blasts were heard more than eight miles away.
April 19, 2000:,. An oxygen generator exploded at a steel factory killed at least 19.
September 21, 2001:. An explosion at the AZF fertilizer factory killed 29, injured 2,500, and caused extensive structural damage to nearby neighbourhoods. October 19, 2009:. A boiler explosion at the Cliff Central Heating and Cooling Plant killed one person, and three others suffered injuries. October 4, 2010:., and several other settlements,.
The dam of reservoir broke and the escaping highly toxic and alkaline (pH 13) sludge flooded several settlements. There were nine victims, including a young girl, and hundreds of injuries (mostly chemical burns). January 20, 2012:, Canada.
At a wood mill two workers were killed and 20 others injured in a fire and explosion. A combustible dust environment led to the explosion and fire. November 8, 2012:. Two people died and 19 were injured in an industrial processing plant belonging to Neptune Technologies & Bioressources, a manufacturer of health care products.
April 17, 2013:. An explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, 18 miles (29 km) north of Waco, while emergency services personnel were responding to a fire at the facility. At least 14 people were killed, more than 160 were injured and more than 150 buildings damaged or destroyed. June 20, 2013:, Canada. Two women were killed in a fireworks warehouse explosion. July 31–August 1, 2014:. From the underground-installed gas pipelines of a petrochemical factory, a large-scale leakage (which had been occurring for more than three hours) led to a series of gas explosions in the streets of, at the midnight between the two days.
Thirty-two people were killed and 321 others were injured. August 12, 2015:, China. Within 30 seconds of each other occurred at a container storage station at the Port of Tianjin in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China 173 people died as a result. August 23, 2016:,. An incident of gas leakage happened at a fertilizer company in port city of Chittagong. The fertilizer company belongs to Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited (CUFL) located near the shore of Karnaphuli River.
No deaths were reported but 25 people had fallen ill due to toxic ammonia inhalation. The investigation team found that tank was maintained by unskilled workers instead of skilled engineers which resulted in leakage. September 10, 2016:,. A boiler explosion in a packaging industry in the town of Tongi, Gazipur, led to the death of 23 workers.
The explosion was so powerful that it made part of the four story building collapse. The explosion also triggered a fire which spread to surrounding areas. May 9, 2018:. An embankment dam in, Kenya, burst during heavy rains, killing at least 48 people.See also.References.
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