Deadliest Incidents In History

Great Chicago Fire — United States

A fire in a drought-stricken timber city destroyed 9 km² of Chicago and reshaped American building codes.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire — United States

146 garment workers died in a New York factory fire where exit doors had been locked; the disaster transformed labour law.

Station Nightclub Fire — United States

Pyrotechnics ignited foam soundproofing in a Rhode Island nightclub; 100 people died, most at a single crowded exit.

Grenfell Tower Fire — United Kingdom

Combustible cladding turned a single-flat kitchen fire into a fatal high-rise inferno in west London.

Great Fire of Meireki — Japan

The Great Fire of Meireki (明暦の大火, Meireki no taika), also known as the Great Furisode Fire, destroyed 60–70% of Edo (now Tokyo), then de facto capital city of Japan, on 2 March 1657, the third year of the Meireki Era. The fire lasted for th

Burning of Smyrna

The burning of Smyrna (Greek: Καταστροφή της Σμύρνης, romanized: Katastrofí tis Smírnis, "Smyrna catastrophe"; Turkish: 1922 İzmir Yangını, "1922 İzmir Fire"; Armenian: Զմիւռնիոյ Մեծ Հրդեհ, Zmyuṙnio Mets Hrdeh) destroyed much of the port ci

Great Fire of Hakodate — Japan

The Great Fire of Hakodate (Japanese: 函館大火) is a fire that broke out in Hakodate, Hokkaido in Japan on 21 March 1934. It is considered one of the worst city fires in Japan's history. On 21 March 1934, a fire was started in a house located w

Peshtigo fire — United States

The Peshtigo Fire was a wildfire on October 8, 1871, in northeastern Wisconsin, United States, including much of the southern half of the Door Peninsula and adjacent parts of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The largest community in the aff

1917 Ciurea rail disaster — Romania

The Ciurea rail disaster, known in Romania as the Ciurea catastrophe (Romanian: Catastrofa de la Ciurea), occurred on 13 January 1917, during World War I, when a passenger train derailed and collided with a stationary train on another track

Ufa train disaster — Russia

The Ufa train disaster was a railway accident that occurred in the Iglinsky District of the Bashkir ASSR, Soviet Union on 4 June 1989, killing 575 people and injuring 800 more. It is the second-deadliest rail disaster in Soviet/Russian hist

Iroquois Theatre fire — United States

The Iroquois Theatre fire was a catastrophic building fire in Chicago, Illinois, that broke out on December 30, 1903, during a performance attended by 1,700 people. The fire caused 602 deaths and 250 non-fatal injuries. It ranks as the wors

Texas City disaster — United States

The Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred on April 16, 1947, in the port of Texas City, Texas, United States, located in Galveston Bay. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history and one of history's lar

1992 Zangon Kataf crises — Nigeria

The genesis of the 1992 Zangon Kataf crises could at least be traced to the onset of the British imperial regime in the Northern Region of Nigeria, in which the Atyap people began reporting the loss of land to the Hausas. In 1922, it was re

1837 Surat fire — India

In April 1837, a fire broke out in the Indian city of Surat, then under British East India Company rule. It resulted in more than 500 deaths and the destruction of 9,737 houses in a 9+3⁄4-mile (16 km) radius. It was the most destructive fir

Cocoanut Grove fire — United States

The Cocoanut Grove fire was a nightclub fire in Boston, Massachusetts, US on November 28, 1942, which resulted in the deaths of 492 people. It is the deadliest nightclub fire in history and the third-deadliest single-building fire in the Un

Tragedia del Ycua — Paraguay

The Ycuá Bolaños supermarket fire, also known as the Ycuá Bolaños Tragedy, occurred on 1 August 2004 in Asunción, Paraguay. After the fire broke out, exits were locked to prevent people from stealing merchandise. The building also lacked ad

Cinema Rex fire — Iran

The Cinema Rex fire (Persian: آتش‌سوزی سینما رکس آبادان, lit. 'Rex Abadan cinema fire') occurred on 19 August 1978 when the Cinema Rex in Abadan, Iran, was set ablaze, killing between 377 and 470 people. The event started when four individu

1918 Cloquet Fire — United States

The Cloquet Fire ( kloh-KAY) was an immense forest fire in northern Minnesota, United States, in October 1918, caused by sparks on the local railroads amid dry conditions. The fire left much of western Carlton County devastated, mostly aff

Ringtheater fire — Austria

The Ringtheater fire occurred on 8 December 1881, in the popular Viennese Ringtheater, named after the road it was located at, the Schottenring. Before the fire, the privately run theater, with capacity for an audience of about 1700, had be

Conflagration at Wöllerdorfer Werke — Austria

Great Hinckley Fire — United States

The Great Hinckley Fire was a conflagration in the pine forests of the U.S. state of Minnesota that ignited on September 1, 1894, which burned an area of at least 200,000 acres (810 km2; 310 sq mi) (perhaps more than 250,000 acres [1,000 km

2017 Pedrógão Grande Wildfire — Portugal

A series of four initial deadly wildfires erupted across central Portugal in the afternoon of 17 June 2017 within minutes of each other, resulting in at least 66 deaths and 204 injured people. The majority of deaths took place in the Pedróg

1994 Karamay fire — China

The Karamay fire (Chinese: 克拉玛依大火) of 8 December 1994 at the Friendship Theatre in Karamay, Xinjiang, China, was among the most notorious fires in China. Its notoriety derives partly from the allegation that the schoolchildren, who were ent

Fire of Szatmárököritó — Hungary

The Fire of Szatmárököritó was a disaster that occurred on March 27, 1910, in the village of Szatmárököritó, Szatmár County, Kingdom of Hungary at the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The local granary barn used as a venue of large Easte

Soma mine disaster — Turkey

On 13 May 2014, blasting at Eynez coal mine in Soma, Manisa, Turkey, caused an underground mine fire, which burned until 15 May. In total, 301 people were killed, making it the worst mine disaster in Turkey's history. The mine, operated by

Miramichi Fire — Canada

The 1825 Miramichi Fire, or Great Miramichi Fire, or Great Fire of Miramichi, as it came to be known, was a massive forest fire complex that devastated forests and communities throughout much of northern New Brunswick in October 1825. It ra

Great Chicago Fire — United States

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in Chicago, Illinois, United States, during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed 17,000 structures across roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km2), and left m

Great Fire of Kyōhō — Japan

1995 Baku Metro fire — Azerbaijan

On 28 October 1995, a fire broke out in the subway system of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, between the Ulduz and Nariman Narimanov stations. According to official figures, the fire killed 289 people: 286 passengers (including 28 children

L'Innovation Department Store fire — Belgium

The L'Innovation fire was a fire that took place at the À L'Innovation department store on the Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat in central Brussels, Belgium, on 22 May 1967. More than 150 firefighters were mobilised to fight it, 251 people were killed

Kiss nightclub fire — Brazil

On 27 January 2013, 242 people were killed and at least 630 others injured in a fire in the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The fire started between 2:00 and 2:30 a.m. (BRST) after a pyrotechnic ignited acoustic fo

Quintinshill rail disaster — United Kingdom

The Quintinshill rail disaster was a multi-train rail crash which occurred on 22 May 1915 outside the Quintinshill signal box near Gretna Green in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. It resulted in the deaths of over 200 people and remains the worst r

2020 Beirut explosions — Lebanon

On 4 August 2020, a major explosion occurred in Beirut, Lebanon, caused by the ignition of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. The chemical, confiscated in 2014 from the cargo ship MV Rhosus and stored at the Port of Beirut without adequate s

1992 Guadalajara explosions — Mexico

A series of ten explosions took place on April 22, 1992, in the downtown district of Analco Colonia Atlas in Guadalajara city, Jalisco state, Mexico. Numerous gasoline explosions in the sewer system and fires over four hours destroyed 8 ki

República Cromañón nightclub fire — Argentina

On 30 December 2004, a fire broke out in the crowded República Cromañón nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people and leaving at least 1,492 injured. The direct cause was the indoor pyrotechnics igniting the ceiling.

Daegu subway fire — South Korea

On February 18, 2003, an arsonist set fire to a Daegu Metro subway train as it arrived at Jungangno station in central Daegu, South Korea. The resulting blaze, which spread when a second train stopped at the same station, killed 192 people