A cyclohexane cloud violently exploded at a caprolactam plant; 28 employees were killed, and a total of 89 individuals were seriously hurt, 53 of them among the general public. Property loss was considerable: buildings destroyed within a 600-m radius, 1,820[...]
The powder drying building at a gunpowder factory exploded at 8:35 am, killing the 2 employees working inside on the spot. The blast of the explosion also caused collapse of the building located opposite that had been used to cut[...]
Basin 3 at a coal mine broke and released 500,000 m³ of coal sludge (water, dust, clay, lower-grade coal and impurities), which swept away Basins 2 and 1. A 10-m high wave was unleashed, engulfing 16 small towns. 125 of[...]
In a farm courtyard on the outskirts of a village, a liquid ammonia (NH3) hose broke during the transfer of a fixed tank (7.2 m³) to a mobile cistern (3.7 m³). Since the outdoor temperature was 24°C, the pressure level[...]
This refinery, which first began operating in 1964, was processing 1.7 million tonnes of crude oil a year. Its LPG storage zone contained 12,850 m³ (theoretical capacity: 13,100 m³) of pressurised hydrocarbons in 10 propane or butane spherical tanks, placed[...]
In a PVC plant, an MVC leak ignited causing a (UVCE-type) explosion. The plant comprised 2 production buildings, one housing a boiler room and maintenance workshop, the other the laboratory, offices and warehouse, along with a series of MVC tanks[...]
At 10:39 pm, the landslide of a portion of Mount Toc sent 260 million m3 of earth and rock hurtling at more than 90 km/h into the full reservoir adjoining the Vajont Dam. The falling rock nearly instantaneously filled the[...]
The break of the Malpasset Dam, a 60-m high arched structure with a thin diaphragm wall, caused 421 victims and displaced 7,000 more. After several days of torrential rains, this dam set up on the Reyran River north of Fréjus broke[...]
At a chemical plant, an explosion destroyed a building storing 4,500 tonnes of a 50-50 composition of ammonium sulphate-nitrate, forming a crater 90 m wide, 125 m long and 20 m deep. Shortly thereafter, a series of fires broke out[...]
On 31st August 1794 at 7:15 am, either 30.2 tonnes (65,000 pounds) or 150 tonnes of powder (depending on the source) exploded in the gunpowder storage room at the Château de Grenelle, near the Military School (Ecole militaire), in a[...]
