Fatal Accidents or 'disasters'
Sites where there have been "disasters" causing significant numbers of human deaths from a single incident or where repeated "tourism related" deaths have totalled a significant number. Only sites involving an "entry" are included (ie not city or town centres etc) and "simple" traffic accidents etc are not counted.
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Assisi | "On the morning of September 26, 1997, two earthquakes hit the region around Assisi in rapid succession(...). There was widespread devastation and many ancient buildings were destroyed or damaged. While a group of specialists and friars were inspecting the damage to the Basilica of Saint Francis, an aftershock shook the building, causing the collapse of the vault. Two Franciscan friars who were among the group and two of the specialists were killed. (...) The collapse was captured on tape." | |
| Budapest | Sinking of a tour boat on the Danube May 29, 2019; killed 24 people | |
| Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks | Due to bear attacks in Jasper and Banff NP's, 5 deaths have been reported. | |
| Cape Floral Region | Table Mountain - "... 10 to 20 fatalities on it a year" | |
| Champaner-Pavagadh | "On 19 January 2003, seven people were killed and 24 were injured in a ropeway accident." (wiki) | |
| Chitwan National Park | 12 people killed by tigers inside the NP (2007-2014) | |
| Corfu | Old Fortress: In 1718 lightning struck the powder magazine at Castel da Mare causing an explosion which created a chain reaction during which three secondary ammunition facilities also exploded, this in turn destroying most buildings inside the castle. The Venetian commander of the fortress was killed along with members of his staff. Hundreds of others died in the explosion, in "one of the greatest catastrophes" in the history of Corfu. (wiki) | |
| Dolomites | At least eleven killed in Italian Marmolada glacier collapse (July 2022) | |
| Dorset and East Devon Coast | Durdle Door - Repeated visitor deaths from "Tombstoning" - "A total of at least 20 people have died after tombstoning since 2005." | |
| Everglades | Crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in 1996, killing all 110 people on board. It crashed in the Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area in the Everglades. Also: Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, causing 101 fatalities. Plus several smaller plane crashes. | |
| Fujisan | 7 deaths among climbers in 2012 | |
| Grand Canyon | "About 12 deaths happen each year at the Grand Canyon, including from natural causes, medical problems, suicide, heat, drowning and traffic crashes. On average, two to three deaths per year are from falls over the rim.." Plus also: the 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision, which killed 128 people after two planes had changed altitude unbeknownst to each other | |
| Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago | 12 tourists killed on boat that sunk in February 2011 | |
| Hallstatt-Dachstein | 13 people(10 students and 3 teacher from the Knabenmittelschule Heilbronn) died/freezed on 15 april 1954 | |
| Hampi | In January 2009 the collapse of the Anegundi Bridge during construction caused the death of 8 construction workers | |
| Huascaran National Park | The Ancash Earthquake May 31 1970. Most of the destroyed towns were outside the inscribed park but "Fifteen members of a Czech expedition were climbing Huascarán at the time, and were among the thousands dead." | |
| Khangchendzonga National Park | Kangchenjunga has seen over 50 deaths since 1905. | |
| Kilimanjaro National Park | "we estimate the number of people who die on Kili each year to be about six or seven. It should be noted that the study does not include the death of porters, for whom a post-mortem is not compulsory and thus the number of fatalities they suffer is more difficult to quantify with any degree of accuracy." | |
| Kinabalu Park | 2015 Sabah earthquake: Eighteen fatalities were reported, all occurring on Mount Kinabalu. | |
| Lake Turkana | 5 dead in helicopter crash in Central Island National Park (March 3, 2019) | |
| Mammoth Cave | Several over the years, including deaths during cave tours and a helicopter accident. But the most prolific accidental death is that of Floyd Collins (see link). | |
| Meknes | Collapse of the Lalla Khenata mosque's minaret in the old Bab el Bardiyine neighbourhood left 41 people dead (February 2010) | |
| Mining Sites of Wallonia | Le Bois du Cazier colliery , the last major mining disaster in European history, which occurred in 1956 and cost 262 lives. (AB ev) | |
| Mount Etna | 6 tourists killed during eruption in 1979 | |
| Mount Kenya | "On July 19, 2003, a South African registered aircraft, carrying 12 passengers and two crew, crashed into Mount Kenya at Point Lenana: nobody survived" | |
| Nasca Lines | Seven tourists died in a plane crash while viewing the Lines (feb 2010). Five tourists had suffered the same fate in april 2008. Seven more were killed on 4 Feb 2022. | |
| Ngorongoro | 11 people killed in a plane crash (Nov 2017) | |
| Nice | On March 23, 1881, a fire destroyed the Théâtre Municipal during a performance of "Lucia de Lammermoor". This disaster caused two hundred victims. The theatre was rebuilt as the Opéra de Nice. | |
| Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin | Courrières disaster (1906, almost 1,100 deaths) (AB ev) | |
| Ohrid Region | 15 people died after a sightseeing boat sank in Lake Ohrid (2009) | |
| Okavango Delta | On 14 October 2011, a Cessna 208 Caravan turboprop passenger aircraft operated by Moremi Air on a domestic flight from Xakanaka camp to Maun, Botswana, crashed and caught fire shortly after take-off, killing eight of the twelve people on board. | |
| Old Havana | A gas explosion at the Saratoga Hotel left 22 people dead (May 2022). | |
| Paris, Banks of the Seine | The "grand étouffement" on the Place Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde) on 30 May 1770. During fireworks in honour of the marriage of the Dauphin and Archduchess Marie-Antoinette of Austria, hundreds of people are trampled and suffocated in a panic caused by a fire started by a falling rocket. | |
| Potosi | Cerro Rico: 19 and 20 deaths from mining accidents in 2009 and 2010 respectively | |
| Qutb Minar | A "stampede" of Schoolgirls inside the tower occurred in 1979 when the power inside the tower failed leading to 20 deaths and its subsequent closure to the public. | |
| Rammelsberg and Goslar | "A mining accident is documented in 1376, when more than 100 miners were buried and killed." | |
| Sagarmatha National Park | There have been over 296 recorded deaths of climbers on "Everest". The worst single event was the result of the 25 April 2015 earthquake when at least 17 climbers died when an avalanche hit Everest South Base Camp. | |
| Sceilg Mhichíl | there have been 3 deaths at Skellig Michael that resulted from tourists falling (1 in 1995 2 in 2009) | |
| Sewell Mining Town | 1945 El Teniente mining accident, where 355 men died | |
| Shiretoko | April 2022: "Ten confirmed dead from missing tourist boat. ...The Kazu 1 is believed to have been on a three-hour sightseeing voyage around the Shiretoko Peninsula." | |
| Sundarbans National Park | "Due to wandering tigers, human-tiger conflict continues to be an issue. Sunderban tigers hunt humans, and it is estimated that over a thousand of the local people have been killed by tigers over the past four decades." (wiki) | |
| Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch | July 2006 6 Swiss soldiers died in an avalanche on the Jungfrau. | |
| Syracuse | One night in December 1704, during a very strong storm, lightning struck the Castello Maniace in Syracuse, blowing up its powder magazine (800 barrels), destroying its watchtowers, causing an entire floor to collapse and killing 33 Spanish soldiers who, as usual, garrisoned it, even at night. (wiki) | |
| Te Wahipounamu | Fox Glacier in Westland National Park: Two Australian tourists were killed 8 January 2009 when more than 100 tonnes of ice fell on them. Nine people, including four international tourists, died in a plane crash 4 September 2010 when the plane, carrying a party of skydivers and tourists, crashed at the end of the runway at Fox Glacier Airport. Seven people, including the pilot, have been killed in a helicopter crash in Nov 2015. | |
| The Sundarbans | The Sundarbans has been notorious for its man-eating tigers since the 17th century. Numbers of reported deaths has varied from 0 to 47 (mean = 22.1) per annum during the period 1947-1983 (R.E. Salter, pers. con-m., 1987). In 1988, 65 deaths were reported during a fourmonth period (The Guardian, 28 December 1988). (AB ev) | |
| Timbuktu | At least 26 people have been crushed to death in a deadly stampede in the famous Djinguereber mosque in the city of Timbuktu (Feb 2010) | |
| Uluru | Over 35 tourists have died climbing the rock - many by heart attack! | |
| Valletta | Carnival tragedy of 1823: a human crush which occurred on 11 February 1823 at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta. About 110 boys who had gone to the convent to receive bread on the last day of carnival celebrations were killed after falling down a flight of steps while trying to get out of the convent. | |
| Volcanoes of Kamchatka | 6 climbers killed during a fall on Klyuchevskaya Sopka | |
| Waterton Glacier International Peace Park | Glacier NP reports 9 fatal bear attacks since the 1960s. | |
| Yellowstone | "There have been 22 known deaths related to thermal features in Yellowstone since 1890" Plus: Since Yellowstone was established in 1872, eight people have been killed by bears in the park. | |
| Yosemite National Park | 18 deaths in 2011 "an unfortunate increase from recent years that has included a few terrifying deaths this summer, including three members of a church group who were swept over a waterfall and a pair of deaths from falling at Half Dome, the park's signature peak." (New York Times 9/6/2011) Plus: 1938 Yosemite TWA crash with 9 fatalities |
Suggestions?
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Fatal Accidents or 'disasters'?
A connection should:
- Not be "self evident"
- Link at least 3 different sites
- Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
- Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
- Be explained, with reference to a source