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Miscellaneous Disasters
-
1952
- Dec. 4–7, London, England: high-pressure system
settled over London, trapping pollution near the ground. Some 4,000
people died in “Great Smog,” mostly from respiratory and cardiac
distress.
-
1981
- July 18, Kansas City, Mo.: suspended walkway in
Hyatt Regency Hotel collapsed; 113 dead, 186 injured.
-
1982
- Sept. 29–Oct. 1: seven people in the Chicago area
were killed after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with
cyanide. 31 million bottles of Tylenol were eventually taken off the
market. The murderer was never caught.
-
1990
- July 2, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: a stampede in a
1,800-foot-long pedestrian tunnel leading from Mecca to a tent city for
pilgrims resulted in the deaths of 1,426 pilgrims.
-
1991
- Nov. 29, nr. Coalinga, Calif.: a massive traffic
accident during a severe dust storm involved 104 vehicles in a pileup on
Interstate 5; 17 killed.
-
1995
- June 29, Seoul, Korea: five-story wing of Sampoong
Department Store collapsed, killing at least 206 people, injuring 910
others.
-
1996
- May 10–11, Mt. Everest, Nepal: 8 climbers died near
summit during storm on mountain. A total of 15 climbers died that
season, the worst single loss of life on Everest.
-
1997
- April 15, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: fire and stampede in
pilgrim's encampment killed 217 and injured at least 1,300.
-
2004
- Feb. 1, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: a stampede at the Hajj
pilgrimage, during the stone-throwing ritual, killed 251 pilgrims.
-
2005
- Aug. 31, Baghdad, Iraq: rumor of a bomber led to a
stampede of Shiite pilgrims on a bridge over the Tigris, killing more
than 950.
-
2006
- Jan. 12, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: a stampede by
pilgrims on the annual hajj killed at least 360.
- Jan. 28, Katowice, Poland: 67 people died from the
collapse of the roof of. the International Exhibition Hall. There had
been 500 people inside at the time.
- Feb. 21, Moscow, Russia: a market roof collapsed,
killing 56 people.
- April 17, Mexico: an overcrowded tour bus returning
from a religious festival veered off the road and plunged down a ravine,
killing 47.
-
2007
- June 17, Nashville, Tenn.: A race-car driver
performing a stunt at a children's charity event lost control of his car
and crashed into bystanders, killing 6.
- Aug. 1, Minneapolis, Minn.: An eight-lane
interstate bridge packed with cars broke into sections and collapsed
into the Mississippi River, killing at least nine and injuring at least
60. The bridge was in the midst of repairs when it buckled and broke
apart.
- Aug. 14, Hunan province, China: A bridge undergoing
construction collapsed in southern China, killing at least 28
people.
-
2008
- Feb. 21, Venezuela: a Venezuelan passenger plane
crashes into an Andean Mountain within the Sierra La Culata National
Park killing all 46 people aboard.
- June 21, the Philippines: a ferry, the Princess
of the Stars, is struck by Typhoon Fengshen, killing most of the 865
passengers and crew. There are 59 known survivors. Almost 500 other
people die during the storm.
- Aug. 1, Pakistan: a large mass of ice breaks on K2, the world's second-highest mountain, causing an avalanche that kills 11 climbers and injures several others.
- Aug. 4, Himachal Pradesh: almost 150 people die when rumors of a landslide cause pilgrims to stampede during a festival celebrating the Hindu mother goddess at Naina Devi temple in northern India.
- Sept. 30, India: over 100 people die and hundreds more are seriously injured when a wall of the Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur, northern India, collapses during the Navratra religious festival and causes a stampede.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
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