As this site is predominantly US- oriented, I thought I’d toss my (bowler) hat into the ring. What I have included in this list are those British disasters which go by one name; you only have to say that one word or name and people instantly know what you mean and remember what happened. I have not included military or underground colliery disasters as there were too many to choose from though all deserve remembrance. These are, in my opinion, the most memorable from recent years.
They are in chronological order, not in order of any sort of significance or loss of life. There are bound to be some which I have not included which people feel deserve more attention- these are the ones which come most readily to my own memory.
February 1958- The popular Manchester United team, nicknamed the “Busby Babes” for their youth and their manager Matt Busby, boarded a plane in Munich to return to England. Also aboard the plane were a number of supporters and journalists. The weather was snowy and, due to a build up of slush on the runway, the plane crashed on its third attempt at takeoff. 23 people died in total; eight of the football team were killed and two were so severely injured they never played again.
In the small Welsh village of Aberfan in October 1966, a huge coal slag heap loosened by days of rain collapsed and slid down the hillside. It buried a row of houses and the village school in millions of tons of choking liquefied coal waste, killing 144 people, 116 of whom were schoolchildren aged 7-10.
The village has never fully recovered, having had such a huge chunk of a single generation wiped out in one fell swoop.
In March 1987 the roll- on roll- off ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise set sail from Dover to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. Due to a combination of catastrophic oversights, she had sailed with the bow doors to the car deck wide open. Seconds after leaving port she began to take on water and listed hard. Within a minute she had capsized onto a sandbar; it was only this shallower water which prevented further loss of life. 193 people died, most of them trapped on board in freezing water.
In July 1988 the North Sea oil production platform Piper Alpha was destroyed in a massive explosion and subsequent fire. 167 men were killed, including two crewmen of a rescue vessel. To date it is the world’s worst offshore oil disaster. Thirty bodies were never recovered.
In December 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 left Heathrow airport heading for JFK in New York. It contained a Libyan terrorist bomb which detonated at 31,000 feet over the Scottish village of Lockerbie, raining debris and fire over the village. All 243 passengers, 16 crew members and 11 residents of Lockerbie were killed. Most of the passengers were American. The resulting fuel explosion on the ground registered 1.6 on the Richter scale.
In April 1989, a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough football ground had to be abandoned due to a huge crowd surge which crushed supporters against steel anti- hooligan fencing. 96 people died, mostly from asphyxia where they stood. The surge was caused by fans being directed into already overfilled pens.
Due to a recent public campaign for answers for the families of the dead 20 years on, police files have been released by the Government. These appear to show a widespread cover- up on behalf of the police, who failed to assist the dying believing them to be attempting a pitch invasion, and prevented ambulances from going into the stadium. This is still an extremely contentious and emotive ongoing issue.
In August 1989, the pleasure boat Marchioness was sailing down the Thames in London, holding a private birthday party. In the early hours of the morning, it was rammed by the dredger Bowbelle. The dredger first cut through the side of the Marchioness, then pushed it underwater, in less than 30 seconds. 51 of the passengers drowned. Poor visibility was blamed, and the fact that both boats were using the centre of the river.
In March 1996 former Scout leader Thomas Hamilton walked into the Primary school of the Scottish town of Dunblane. He carried two Browning pistols and two Smith and Wesson revolvers. Making his way to the gymnasium, he opened fire on a class of five and six year olds, killing or injuring all but one of them. Fifteen children and one teacher were killed. Hamilton then shot into other areas of the school, causing minor injuries, before fatally shooting himself in the head. No real motive has ever been discovered though Hamilton was rumoured to have been a paedophile.
In October 1999, two high- speed passenger trains collided at Ladbroke Grove rail junction, two miles west of London’s Paddington station. The trains met almost head- on at a combined speed of 130mph. The impact, combined with subsequent diesel fires in the wreckage, resulted in a death toll of 31 people. Both drivers died. The crash was blamed on a series of system failures, including inadequate driver training, poor signal visibility and insufficient emergency procedures.
Also known as the July bombings or the London bombings, this was a series of co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks on London public transport in July 2005. Three bombs exploded within a minute of one another on three crowded Underground trains. Nearly an hour later a fourth bomb exploded on a bus. In total 56 people were killed including the four bombers. Over 700 people were injured. The bombings were carried out by British Muslims in apparent retaliation for the Iraq conflict.
Hello there. I remember nearly ALL of these incidents from when I used to watch the news (I get all my news from non-maintream sources now). Very, very shocking. I too watched in horror in 1985 as a live football match turning into a fire-ball in bradford. I was 9 years old – and those memories haunt a person for a LONG time. The fact that all these disasters can be remembered from just the one word makes them all the more shocking to me….
Anyone with a true heart can’t condemn those who are innocent to these disasters. Localising the news used to be seen as the best way to localise and sanitise it’s effect – to save those not already grieving from fear and nightmares. A nation in moarning was, in those days, a nation of dignity; and didn’t rush footage out to America, Asia, Urasia and the Far East to sensationalise that fact; in respect for all those families involved.
29. ringtailroxy
What is that Aussie channel? On DTV?
I remember 7/7. I was at BCT at the time and one of my drill sergeants had family in Britain. He made sure all of us trainees knew about it and how it related to 9/11.
smithstar15 – thanks for the comment – we lost a family member in 88 on the Lockerbie.
Segue, I also remember that horrible day very and still think about it to this day. Like you and RTFW mentioned, it was a huge news story here and was in the headlines and front pages for several days.
ThisNamesTaken, in my humble US American opinion I think knowing about these events has more to do with if you have a nose for news and current events than it does what country you are from. For example The Patient (# 45) who says England is his or her home town has only heard of 4 out of 10 of these. I like many US Americans are familiar with all of these events. This is nothing against The Patient, I’m sure The Patient knows a lot more about other stuff that I do on different subject matters. That’s what makes the world go around. But to lump all US Americans into not knowing news events because it didn’t happen in the US is I think just kind of silly.
One you won’t of heard of: http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/northwest/series11/week3_freckleton.shtml
Freckleton Air Disaster, awful.
I too am American, and I too have heard of all of these events except the crash from Munich which was way before my time. Also, I remember the 7/7 bombings being run 24/7 on the big 3 cable news channels for several days. Anyway, it is kind of funny how this list’s comments turned into dissing American media and American citizen’s interests in world events. It does seem that recently this has been happeneing more and more. People *****ing non-stop. JFrater needs to just go ahead and put up some list about Why America is (isn’t) the Best Country in the Known Universe then just have everybody go at it in that list’s message board so we can get back to regular list (con)versing on all the other lists. Whaddya think?
being british my self, and allso living in britain. i disagree with this list by far.
and one thing i must say, most of the time listverse does not explaine why they have ordered the list this way.
the thing that i disagree with this list is the way it is orderd.
The list is ordered chronologically. It says so at the top.
I’m always confused about whether Northern Ireland is considered part of Britain, but if it is, I think the Omagh bombing should have been on the list.
Sobering list for a holiday Monday. Very well presented and researched. I knew of all of these except the tragedy at Aberfan and the Marchioness boat collision.
Smithstar15; Dummbakistan? This type of attitude and the who the hell cares what anyone else thinks mindset is responsible for many of our problems – today and historically. We don’t live in a vacuum; It is in fact a global village and our security is dependent on no one wanting to kill us. Good job on that.
brings back some strong memories of a few of the above, i remember the night of the piper alpha well even on the west coast they sent out the lifeboats and from the news i remember they where sent from all over the uk. Dunblane was a travesty however it did change for the better strict gun control which was sadly not strict enough (american cousins are you listening) quite suprised nobody has mentioned that tennis player andy murray was a pupil at the school at the time of the shootings, he does not talk about it much but he has helped a community recover as the town see in him all that the children could have become.
I’m American (I was really born in Poland, but now I live here in NYC), and only fourteen years old, and the only event on this list I knew before reading this list is 7/7. I was alive during the two events before that, but I was probably too small to remember. It really is tragic to hear about these kind of things. The order of the list doesn’t have to do with anything; death is death. You can’t change the importance of death just because it is more known, or more people died during an event.
It’s a real shame about Munich; Manchester Utd. is my favorite football team today. Having most of the team killed while traveling… You probably can’t imagine what toll that would leave on supporters of the team.
Aberfan also particularly stood out for me. It’s just very difficult to imagine more than a hundred innocent schoolchildren dying. They had their whole lives ahead, yet they were killed by a stupid landslide.
But alas, we must get past these events. There’s a time for grieving, and there’s a time for moving on. 9/11 was tragic, but the little events each year will eventually need to stop, and we’ll need to move on. I don’t know if there are events each year for 7/7, but the same applies. I am in no way trying to ignore these tragedies, but we can’t let our nations be constantly burdened by these things. Thanks for reading (This is my first comment on here after being on this site for a good few months =P)
I’m not sure I’d agree that Munich is known by one name, I would refer to it as the Munich Air Disaster to avoid ambiguity with the Munich Olympic hostage disaster.
Also I think Summerland could have been a bonus answer.
65. Blogball
true
Americans have to keep in mind that the rest of the world develops a perception about us through American news channels and outlets that are in turn used as a news sources internationally – what they don’t understand is that we have to “shop” to get the news in America. As mentioned , the networks are only interested in ratings that generate advertising revenue – if their ratings are down they just copy what the top network is reporting, whether it be a missing mother or child, criminal athletes, or asphyxiated starlets, they halt the important news to broadcast the tripe first. It gives the rest of the world the impression we are more interested in Britney Spears than an earthquake in China – or the devastating murder of children in Scotland.
In my opinion all the majors play the game, but more disgusting is that the people behind the news shows and services, the owners, news directors, and even the talking heads, ,feel they have the right to determine what the public should be allowed to see and how it is presented.
To each their own, but when I see news that I know is not as important as other things going on in the world, – I change the channel and avoid returning to that source.
Re Lockerbie Shoild that be 1.6 or 6.1? 1.6 doesn’t seem high enough.
65. Blogball: I, too, remember each and every one of these disasters, watching the television coverage live, with tears running down my face, my breath coming only in gasping sobs. Yet 18. ThisNamesTaken, would have the rest of the world believe that Americans know nothing that occurs outside it’s borders! He/she/it believes that we do not know what happens in Canada or Mexico, much less Central America or South America.
He/she/it would have one believe that we don’t have a clue about what is going on in Europe, or the Middle East, or Africa or (God Forbid! Strike me deaf, dumb & blind!) Asia! How the hell could we possibly know what is happening what is happening in Asia?
ThisNamesTaken would be shocked to have sat with me as I watched the footage, live, from Lockerbie, where I could see the homes gutted and the fields strewn with wreckage, or from the crash of the Concord, with it’s slit in the countryside as I recognized pieces of luggage, bits of someone’s life whose life has been horribly torn from them. He/she/it would be horrified as I watched the awful images, forever burned onto my brain, from Biafra, of children, no bigger around than a doll, moments from death, or the parents, themselves too close to death to notice that the child they are carrying so tenderly is already dead.
ThisNamesTaken may not believe it, but I cry when a Mosque full of Muslims at prayer is blown up by a suicide bomber, just as I cry when Jews at market are blasted by the same type of bomb.
ThisNamesTaken, I don’t think you looked very far or wide for an American to know of your *one* select disaster. I believe you had decided before you wrote your little hate piece what you were going to say and the truth was not part of it.
Obviously, from the last couple of lists, hating America and Americans is the big fad and you just had to get in on it. Too bad you chose such a stupid point to stand on.
This will be my last post on this site. And yes I know that will be good news to most that the only one who actually has a high IQ is leaving–I am sick of the anti-American bull*****. As I said in another post on another list (filled with more anti-American horse-hockey) “if it wasn’t for America you would all be clicking your heels like Dorothy and scarfing down sauerkraut”. I’m ashamed of Americans like mom424 who have never did anything for this country in their life but yet make stupid remarks about someone’s mind set being the cause of all evils and looking to some imaginary village to protect her(yeah,if a terrorist gets after you call Guy Ritchie, he’ll be right over) and who try to ingratiate themselves to imbeciles by agreeing with every fool thing the *****s say. And goofy atheists wanting to debate Christians about Jesus when anyone with half a brain knows Christanity is based on faith. No,we don’t have a you tube video of Jesus being raised on the 3rd day..sorry.And I have never seen so many phonies.Everybody has advanced degrees in everything but yet you’re right here day after day instead of out discovering cures for dreaded diseases or finding out why King Tut died with a hard-on. That’s a classic “what’s wrong with this picture?”–The site is not inherently a bad one and at times is extremely interesting and I believe JFrater to be a good man with a witty sense of humor. (And I will buy a copy of his book from Amazon).–But there is too much emphasis on atheism and anti-Americanism for me. Of course this is JFrater’s web site to do with as he pleases. But it’s also my right to not have to read the same trash from the same deadheads day after day. So I’ll move on. If JFrater lets this post stay up a while you can all have a blast knocking the dumb American and mom424 can pitch right in there with her learned insights, so actually I’m doing you all a favor.There are 2 other British disasters I would like to mention.
1. The goofy royal family
2. Boy George
I will leave you with these words:
THERE’S A GERMAN BEHIND YOU!!–HaHa–
79. smithstar15: I beg to differ, but I believe you might find there are a few more of us with IQ’s in the range you would consider “high”.
I’m one. Randall is another. Anon, alas gone, is another. lo, too. I could mention another 12.
79: Glad it’s your last post. ***** off! There was nothing inelligent about your last post so don’t delude yourself.
I went to WordPress to register my username. It is already registered by someone else.
This name was chosen for deeply personal reasons; I have an extremely rare and severely painful neurological genetic disease, a form of Schwannomatosis. It’s incidence in the population is 1 in 1,700,000, and no two people get the same presentation. It causes Schwann cell tumors to grown on, and around, thus engulfing, nerve roots and myelin sheathes. My case has attacked my entire spinal cord, from C1 through S5 bi-laterally. The pain is excruciating. I live on a diet of Oxycontin and Vicodin along with a dozen other drugs to alleviate the drugs and the side-effects of some of the drugs. Segue, in music meaning to move smoothly to what follows without pause, is to remind me always, in my life, no matter what life throws at me (and believe me, it’s a lot)to simply and smoothly proceed to the next thing without pause.
No other name will do that. This is me. So, I suppose when you go to WordPress, I will not be going along.
As a Canadian, I have to agree that the Anti American idiots on here is disturbing to say the least!! Every bloody topic descends into blaming America…what a bunch of frickin’ losers!!
Shaftsburyboingo or whatever your name is…America is interested in protecting America…gee, what a novel concept huh?? THERE havn’t BEEN any attacks on American soil since 9-11….that is what the Bush Admin is referring too..
Just because England and Western Europe have suicadal immigration policies allowing millions of radical muslims into your countries, don’t go blaming America for that…Blame your owned damned liberal govts…Your problems are your problems…Not the U.S. Administration!!
Man, are there ever a lot of morons on the internet!!
This is one Canuck that supports you America!!
Devon in Calgary
The London bombings, my mother was in London at the time. She was actually going to go under ground near that area that SAME day, but her sister told her she’ll drive her instead. One of the scariest moment ever for me.
Smithstar15: I guess the joke is on you. I’m not American, and you get huffy at me? after I defended you on a previous list? and all because I took offense at you naming a country dummbakistan? What a baby. And for your info, no I haven’t contributed to our military – but tons of my family either served or are serving. Overseas as we speak. I also support our and your forces in Afghanistan; they are doing a necessary job. I assume you’re not including yourself in that grouping of high IQ’s eh? Care to know what mine is? (not that it always reflects common-sense – I’ve heard many who claim to have mensa capabilities say very dumb things.)
Segue:well that’s really unfortunate.I hope some miracle will happen and get you well soon.
I feel excited and a bit nervous because I’ll be going back to school.I hope that I will be able to meet new friends:)
Thank you, johnric. There will be no miracles for me, but maybe for the next generation.
Good luck at school! You’ll meet all sorts of new friends and have a wonderful life.
OK, not to demean any of these but I was struck by the similarities of some of these disasters to those that have occurred in Peru…
- Munich Air Disaster = ALIANZA LIMA: December 8th, 1987, one of the “classic” Peruvian teams, Alianza Lima, was coming home from a game in the city of Pucallpa. Due to pilot inexperience, the plane crashed, killing all 43 passengers on board, including 16 players, 9 managers, 8 fans, 3 refs and 7 crew members.
- Aberfan = May 31,1970, Yungay, Peru. A magnitude 7.5 earthquake caused a landslide in the mountains of Peru resulting in the death of 67,000 people in the city of Yungay. The entire town was buried under the mud.
- Hillsborough = ESTADIO NACIONAL: May 24, 1964, a football (read soccer) game between Peru and Argentina, when with 10 minutes to go the ref annuls the goal that would have given Peru the tie, causing angry fans to storm the field which in turn led to police throwing tear gas… Big mistake. All of a sudden you’ve got 47,000 fans trying to get out of the stadium because they cannot breathe only to find themselves locked in (the stadium had barred its doors to prevent people with no tickets from getting in). In the end, 350 people died from being crushed by the crowd.
Again, I do not mean to diminsh the importance of the British tragedies, I was merely struck by the eerie parallels…
@ ThisNamesTaken, you said it “sickened” you when Americans expect pity for Columbine but know nothing about Dunblane. Should I be likewise “sickened” of you didn’t know about these Peruvian tragedies??
segue: Sorry to hear about your name not being available for you. I was thinking about your post over dinner and it kept bugging me. I don’t want to see you leave because of that. Is there another form or variation of the name that you can use? Like…segue-me or segue-music…something like that…that way it’s still special to you? I hope it works out for you!
88. GTT, I was also struck by the similarity between the Peruvian disasters and the British disasters. In every case, the Peruvian disasters were more deadly, and there were instances you left off (but they didn’t compare so one to one with the British).
89. oouchan, I don’t know. I’m racking my brain, trying to come up with a version that suits me, but I’m stumped so far. Your suggestions are good, except that WordPress accepts only letters and numbers. I would be grateful to anyone who came up a usable version of segue for WordPress…soon!
segue: the WordPress system allows for you to change your screen name so whatever your registered username might be, you can still post with whatever name you choose. I registered but Spange wasn’t available however I discovered that there is an option to change your nickname in the dashboard area under profile. Once you do this, the nickname you entered is available as an option in the dropdown under “Display name publicly as”.
92. Spange: You’re a genius! I know it wasn’t for me but I am happy now for segue!
Hurry and sign up, sweetie!
segue:
Your former-flute player friend to the rescue!
possible new name suggestions:
Legato_segue – a smooth musical transition using smooth, soft notes (perhaps not ‘Wrath of segue’ applicable!)
Leggiero_segue – smooth musical transition into lighthearted direction
Maestoso_segue – a smooth, majestic musical transition
Obliggato_segue – a bit of a stretch here. Obligatto is usually a notation to mean a particular instrument is a very important accompaniment and cannot be removed for sake of the solo. So with the liberties I took with musical terminology, this means a very important transition that cannot be removed
or, of course, Spange’s suggestion, haha. I took too long with the music terms, apparently.
I hate how the comments of EVERY list turns into a debate about America.
If you want Americans to stop thinking we’re the center of the universe, stop making us the center of YOURS!
Whooo Hooooo! I signed up as segues! It’s the same thing, it’s just the active voice of the word, which is good, and, as Spange pointed out, I can post as segue anyway. So it’s good news all the way around.
****
77. Eugene: I’ve lived in an earthquake zone all but 3 years of my life, and I’ve been through many, many quakes, both large and small. A 6.1 magnitude quake is pretty large. Right at Lockerbie I’d say you’d have an impact quake of about that magnitude, but it would quickly diminish as one moved away from the impact site.
97. segue: Great news!
#61: Me. Gosh, I must clarify myself – after thinking about it. Yes, many views have seen ‘live’ footage of these events; and by ‘live’ I mean repeated newsreel footage – but they don’t sensationalise it like they do now.
#65 Blogball – Your last sentence sums it up perfectly.
#76 TEX – Bravo!
#80 segue: c’mon. Those with massive IQs are wise enough to know it ain’t that significant. The more you know, the more there is to understand. It’s no great shakes.. I wish it were; – I’da been happy years ago!
#82 segue: A very touching moment of clarity. I can’t say whether any change to the site will ultimately be for the better; it may. A new approach could work wonders; or muck it up completely
. I’m gonna wait and see. Glad see those suggestions for names! What’s in a name? Oooh! you’d be surprised! Calling yourself this or that? Even in jest? Very.
#85: Mom424: – Yeah, to paraphrase Robert Anton Wilson: Everyone can be a schmuck. Even a genius can be a schmuck.. …It’s ok to notice you’re being a schmuck; ‘cuz then you can do something about it. It’s the schmucks who don’t know they’re schmucks – that’s the problem.
(and that’s not aimed at anybody; especially me – ‘cus I know I am one – quite often actually)
#99 Me – See I said that! Calling yourself names… – and then calling myself a schmuck. What a schmuck.
No, I say that because ‘schmuck’ is probably the least offencive word you can put upon somebody; it can be mean’t with kindness and yes, a bit of empathy – you should hear what I used to call myself..
hey jfrater!
how about my list
i submitted one list about amonth ago
why is it not published yet?
GTT – “Again, I do not mean to diminsh the importance of the British tragedies, I was merely struck by the eerie parallels…”
Actually, I don’t think this diminishes the importance of British tragedies but conveys the original intent of the author to add some international diversity. Many of these I already knew (pretty much all but the Paddington incident) but it’s still interesting to read the first or third-person stories shared in the comments. I’m sure you could come up with many more examples – I’d like to see a 10 list to expand on your comment 88! …and to keep from making this a depressing site to visit, could you make a lively and upbeat list too, please?
79 smithstar15: This will be my last post on this site.
I will miss your moronic buffoonery.
99. Lifeschool: re 80. segue : Yeah, Lifeschool, I know, but Smithstar15 was being such a jerk that I hoped he was sticking around for a read of reactions to his stated departure. I just wanted him to know that his “celebrated” IQ was of no importance. It was common. In fact he was common.
Re: the “massive” IQ’s. Luckily my children and I (I raised them as a single mother from the ages of 4,5 & 6) only have IQ’s in the 145 to 155 range (not your massive range), and your right, even at that it’s no big shakes. Makes learning and retention easier, and it keeps reminding you of all you’ll never know. My daughters and I are all right-brained, my son is globally brained, which is weird.
IQ’s really mean nothing. They are, if anything, only a measure of possibilities, not probabilities or guarantees.
I could write a paper on the subject, but this isn’t the place. Let’s just say I have some very strong feelings and they might surprise everyone.
75. Handrejka-
i, too, when seeing “munich” thought first of the olympic terribleness, but as both happened before my time it was just another tragedy to learn
but woo-hooo! smithstar is leaving us of his own free-will?!
i’m happy about that. he mostly added hate-speech to any list he commented upon.
and segue, i’m not gone! i’ve just been rather busy in off-line life (a tree fell on my house while i was out of town, and other fun stuff). but anon, anon… i miss him greatly. thanks for remembering me
i was able to grab wordpress name lo1580, so i guess that will be me after the transition.
-segue -PLEASE do not leave the LV for the semantics, i will miss you so… there must be another apt name -i will email you if i have a really valid suggestion, so no one else grabs it from these comments… but what about adding a meaningful number to “segue” as i had to do? please don’t go.
ok, total form-foul confession, i’ve been writing one big comment as i read through the existing ones, and now i see segue has found a ‘wordpress’ name! yeah! i’d miss you if you hadn’t
and i agree (also notably to GTT) about echoes of peruvian disasters…
i usually separate my comments, but i feel the late-night bleach fumes of cleaning out a fridge after 2 weeks without power may have made me reckless! love to all the
LV
lo, you are unforgettable! I did manage to leave out gabi (forgive me!) and GTT and Lifeschool, and Kiwiboi and and and…
maggot-
please don’t encourage him to second-guess his choice to leave us
i have no problem -in fact, i enjoy- honest debate with those who stand 180 degrees away from my view points, but our afore named friend couldn’t really debate, he just dumped piles of hatred “backed up” with ad hominem “evidence” upon any who held views other than his own. and still, i fell for arguing every time…just couldn’t help myself…
God i remember 7/7, was eerie.
Was in London at the time and i got a text message off my Mum asking me if i was ok, who the hell texts someone after a bombing to ask if they’re ok?
segue, you are unforgettable too
(hearing the nat/natalie king cole digital “duet” shivering in my brain right now. cheesy? sure. but still lovely and a bit creepy, and therefore perfect in a theatrical melodrama kind way? of course!) want to sing it now aloud (i’m kind of a reformed theater geek for singing), but that would be disrespectful of my neighbor here in our duplex….
What about the Bradford Stadium Disaster???
On May 11th, 1985 when the pavilion at the Valley Parade Ground (home ground for Brdford City) was immolated by a flash fire during the game that was to propel Bradford into the 2nd Division (Championship League 2) with a win over Lincoln City.
56 people died! A much higher toll on life than Marchioness, Paddington – or even Munich!
The cause was determined to be either a cigarette or match dropped between the seats / floor gaps and into rubbish underneath.
You forgot to add Amy Winehouse!
#83 Devon – the 7/7 bombers were born and raised in britain, they weren’t immigrants. as far as i’m aware there haven’t been any successful terrorist attacks in the uk that have been caused by immigrants.
but i guess its easier to use immigrants as scapegoats than actually, you know, explain anything.
Segue, I’m sure you don’t know me, but I’m glad you were able to register. I enjoy reading your comments.
Here’s a few more off the top of my head -
Mooregate (as in tube disaster)
Hungerford (as in Hungerford massacre)
Kings Cross (as in Kings Cross fire)
Shagrat, this list is called “10 British Disasters From Recent Times”, not “Every British Disaster From Recent Times” or “The 10 British Disasters From Recent Times With The Highest Death Toll”.
90. segue:
Yes, it was more than a little eerie for me to read this list. Obviously we´ve had more than our share of tragedies but I only wanted to include directly comparable ones… I also purposefully left off all mention of terrorist attacks (such as Tarata) because ours were home-grown terrorists instead of Muslim ones…
gabi319 (102): Does that mean no mention of MRTA? Or the fire in Mesa Redonda? Actually, I might write a list, just not a very happy one…
#104: segue – righ’d on! It’s all relative.
My wife and I were actually in London a week before the 7/7 bombing, staying right near King’s Cross Station. That was our home stop on the underground. One week later, and we might not be here.
107 lo: he just dumped piles of hatred “backed up” with ad hominem “evidence” upon any who held views other than his own.
At least he accused you of being “cute”. He called me a feces eater. I am still questioning my worth to society after that startling revelation.
Re similar disasters from other countries, the Luzhniki disaster is very similar to Hillsborough but is little known. I think some of this is because the Soviet government hushed it up, perhaps if they’d been more open about it Hilsborough could have been prevented.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luzhniki_Disaster