List of Accidents and Disasters By Death Toll - Explosions

Explosions

This list does not include bombings, aviation incidents, and mine disasters.

1. 1,950 – Halifax Explosion (Nova Scotia, Canada, 1917)
2. 1,500 – Ammunition plant with facilities explode at Smederevo, outskirt of Belgrade, Serbia, June 8, 1941
3. 1,200 – Explosion of ammunition on the Chinese troopship "Kuang Yuang", near Kiukiang, China, October 16, 1926 / Ammunition trucks explode near a railway station (Cali, Colombia, 1956)
4. 1,121 – Japanese battleship Mutsu, at Hashirajima harbour, 1943 due to magazine explosion.
5. 1,100 – Lagos Armoury Explosion, (Lagos, Nigeria, 2002), many deaths were from drowning during the resulting panic
6. 1,007 – Ammunition transporter exploded in Hamont, Belgium, November 18, 1918
7. 1,000+ - Explosion of a gunpowder factory in Grenelle, France, August 31, 1794
8. 843 – British dreadnought battleship HMS Vanguard, propellant explosion, 1917
9. 800 – Bombay Docks Explosion (Bombay, India, 1944)
10. 738 – British pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Bulwark, magazine explosion, 1914
11. 700 – Iraqi military plant with facilities explode at Al Hillah, Babil, Iraq, August 17, 1988
12. 621 – Explosion of a dynamite depot, Brazil, February 27, 1925
13. 600+ – Explosion of the Caterina Costa, port of Naples, March 28, 1943, with over 3000 injured.
14. 590 – Explosion of the Cabo Machichaco, port of Santander, Cantabria, Spain, November 3, 1893, with over 2000 injured.
15. 575 – Ufa train disaster (Ufa, Soviet Union, 1989)
16. 568+ – Texas City Disaster (Texas, 1947)
17. 565 – BASF Oppau explosion, Germany, 1921, possibly as many as 1,500 killed
18. 500+ – San Juanico Disaster, (Mexico City, Mexico, November 19, 1984)
19. 372 – Ammunition ship USS Mount Hood, 372 killed and 371 injured (Seeadler Harbor, 1944)
20. 339 - Japanese battleship Mikasa, explosion in magazine (artillery) while at port; September 11, 1905
21. 322 – Port Chicago disaster (Port Chicago, California, 1944)
22. ~300 – An explosion occurred on the French battleship Liberté, September 25, 1911
23. 296+ – New London School explosion (New London, Texas, 1937)
24. 246+ – Brazzaville arms dump blasts (Brazzaville, Congo, 4 March 2012)
25. 234 – PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai County, Chongqing, China, December 2003
26. 233 – Russian battleship Imperatritsa Mariya magazine explosion, 1916
27. 230+ – 2010 South Kivu tank truck explosion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
28. 226+ - Gunpowder explosion near Valletta, Malta, July 18, 1806
29. 217 – Los Alfaques Disaster, (Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Tarragona, Spain 1978)
30. 207 – Tank car explosion at BASF, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany, also 3818 injured, 28 July 1948.
31. 206 – Gas explosions (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1992)
32. 200+ – Gotera ammunition dump exploded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on June 6, 1991.
33. 200 – 1984 Tbilisi gas explosion / Scofield Mine disaster, Scofield, Utah, U.S., 1900 / Mina Rosita Vieja disaster, San Juan de Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico, 27 February 1908
34. 180 – Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1990
35. 177 – Mitsubishi Bibai, Bibai, Hokkaidō, Japan, 1941
36. 171 – A trailer truck carrying dynamite exploded after a crash at Thung Maphrao, Phang Nga, Thailand on February 15, 1991.
37. 166 – Chenjiashan, Tongchuan, Shaanxi, China, 28 November 2004
38. 163 – West Loch Disaster, 1944, On May 21, 1944, the tank landing ship LST-353 exploded at West Loch while handling ammunition
39. 160 – Vågen explosion, (Norway, 1944)
40. 159 – Muchonggou, Shuicheng, Guizhou, China, 26 September 2000
41. 154 – Ryongchon disaster, (North Korea, 2004)
42. 153 – Tacoa Disaster, (Tacoa Power Plant, Arrecife, Venezuela, 1982)
43. 151 – Gunpowdership disaster (Leiden, the Netherlands, 1807) / Hausdorf, Germany, currently Jugów, Poland, July 9, 1930
44. 150 – Gunpowder explosion (Abbeville, France, November 2, 1773) / Jaʿār munitions factory explosion (Abyan Governorate, Yemen, March 28, 2011)
45. 147 – Spanish Naval torpedo and landmine factory exploded at Cadiz, Andalusia, Spain, August 18, 1947.
46. 140 – Sachangwan Molo tanker explosion Kenya 31 January 2009
47. 134 – Chilwell Munitions factory, Nottingham, England, 1918
48. 133 – Munitions plant (Pennsylvania, 1917)
49. 130 – Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion (Cleveland, Ohio, 1944)
50. 126 – Dublin Gunpowder Disaster, (Dublin, Ireland, 1597)
51. 121 - Road tanker explosion, (Okobie, Nigeria, 2012)
52. 118 – An explosion occurred on the French battleship Iéna, March 12, 1907
53. 117 – 2007 Maputo arms depot explosion at Mozambican Armed Forces ammunition in Laulane, Mozambique on March 22, 2007. / Electrical transformer explosion, Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 3, 2010.
54. 116 – Munitions factory, Faversham, Kent, England, 1916.
55. 110 – A tanker truck carrying petrol exploded at Chennai, India, March 12, 1995.
56. 105 – 24 houses of liquefied petroleum gas exploded at Danaciobasi, Kırıkkale, Turkey, on November 24, 1980.
57. 103 – USS Bennington, (off Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 1954) / Gas explosions by subway construction (Daegu, South Korea, 1995)
58. 100 – Delft Explosion (Netherlands, 1654) / Gunpowder explosion (Limerick, Ireland, February 12, 1693) / Chemical plant (Pittsburgh, 1918) / T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion (New Jersey, 1918). / Explosion of an ammunitions dump (Chuchow, China, June 10, 1930) / Pakistani Army ammunitions dump explodes at Islamabad, Pakistan, (April 10, 1988) / NNPC oil pipeline explosion, which blasted a primary school at Ijegun, Nigeria, May 15, 2008.
59. 98 – A truck carrying 8,800 gallons of fuel exploded and caught fire at Kagarko, Kaduna, Nigeria, March 28, 2007
60. 94 – Japanese Imperial Army ammunitions dump exploded at Hirakata, outskirt of Osaka, Japan, (March 1, 1939) / Temiya railroad station and Otaru harbor facilities destroyed by an exploding standing freight train carrying dynamite at Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan, (December 27, 1924)
61. 92 - Nedelin catastrophe, (Baikonur, spacecenter, Kazakhstan, 1960)
62. 90 – Explosion of a large store of dynamite in the basement of a five-story apartment building in Shaoyang, Hunan, China, (January 31, 1996) / A truck carrying 3,800 gallons of gasoline with six vehicles crashed and exploded at Nosratabad, Sistan and Baluchistan, Iran, June 20, 2004.
63. 79 – Gas explosions by subway construction (Osaka, Japan, 1970)
64. 78 – Greek tanker Spyros exploded at Jurong shipyard, Singapore, October 12, 1978
65. 75 – Underground Ammunition Store (Fauld, Staffordshire, England, 1944)
66. 74 - Propane explosion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum during a Holiday On Ice show at the Indiana State Fair (Indianapolis, 1963)
67. 73 – Silvertown explosion, (London, 1917) / Arzamas railroad station exploded disaster, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, 1988
68. 70 – Vergarolla explosion (Pula, Italy/Yugoslavia, 1946) / Shenzhen factory explosions (Shenzhen, China, 1993) A chain reaction of explosions ripples through factory district originating from an army owned factory.
69. 63 – A tank truck carrying liquefied petroleum gas crashed and exploded in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, September 25, 1990 / St. Helena gold mine explosion by methane gas, Welkom, Free State, South Africa on August 31, 1987
70. 60 – Army laboratory (near Tallinn, Estonia, 1936) / Truck explosion in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur, China, (September 9, 2000) / Tank truck explosion, while carrying fuel oil at outskirt of Onitscha, Nigeria, November 11, 1994
71. 57 – Freight train with dynamite exploded at Iri railroad station, Iksan, Jeollabukdo, South Korea, (November 11, 1977) / 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, May 18, 1980
72. 51 – 297,000 pounds of gunpowder blew up killing 51 people at Hercules Powder Factory of Kenvil, New Jersey, USA on September 12, 1940
73. 50 – Explosion at TNT factory at Split Rock, Onondaga County, New York State, (2 July 1918) / Oil tanker explosion, known as the Betelgeuse incident at Whiddy Island, West Cork, Ireland, (8 January 1979) / Three cars of passenger train from Aleppo, that exploded at Al jazira, northern Syria on July 28, 1987
74. 49 – Gas explosion in PKO Rotunda Bank, (Warsaw Poland, 1979) / Gas explosion at Colegio Marcelino Ugalde, Vizcaya, Ortuella, Spain, October 23, 1980. / Explosion in Powder Tower of the castle of Bredevoort Netherlands, July 12, 1646.
75. 48 – Vostok rocket explosion (Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia, 1980) / Paraguana Refinery Complex explosion, Falcon State, Venezuela, August 25, 2012
76. 47 – USS Iowa turret explosion, 1989
77. 45 – Gas explosion in Osasco Plaza Shopping Mall (Osasco, Brazil, June 11, 1996). Another 482 were injured.
78. 41 – Richmond, Indiana explosion on April 6, 1968 – More than 150 injured. / Uam apartment complex collapsed by gas explosion at Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea, January 7, 1993
79. 40 – Gunpowder Tower Disaster, lightning struck the gunpowder tower of the castle, Bredevoort, the Netherlands, 12 July 1646 / Lapua ammo factory (Finland, 1976)
80. 39 – Hekimbasi gabage dump with twelve slum houses explosion at Umraniye, Istanbul, Turkey, April 29, 1993
81. 36 – Petrobras Campos Basin exploded, off eastern Rio state, Brazil, August 16, 1984
82. 35 – Ammunition factory near Leeds, England (1916)
83. 33+ – Explosion at a naval laboratory, Brazil, April 30, 1931
84. 33 – Humberto Vidal Explosion (San Juan, Puerto Rico,1996)
85. 32 – 2009 Viareggio derailment, a gas train explosion, Italy, 2009
86. 29 – AZF factory explosion (chemical), Toulouse, France, September 21, 2001 / Blast in ammunition depot in Albania, 2008
87. 28 – Flixborough chemical plant explosion near Scunthorpe, England, June 1, 1974 / Explosion in gun cotton factory in Stowmarket, Suffolk, England, 11 August 1871.
88. 27 – LNG liquefaction plant explosion, Skikda, Algeria. 19 January 2004.
89. 25 - 2012 Afyonkarahisar arsenal explosion, Turkey, September 5, 2012
90. 24 – Gas explosion in Ghislenghien, Belgium, July 30, 2004
91. 23 – Pathfinder Hotel, Fremont, Nebraska, January 10, 1976 / Phillips Disaster (Pasadena, Texas, USA, 1989)
92. 22 – Gas explosion in tower block, (Gdańsk Poland, 1995) / Fireworks factory (Enschede, Netherlands, 2000)
93. 21 – Boston Molasses Disaster, (Boston, Massachusetts, USA. January 15, 1919) / Fireworks explosion (Hallet, Oklahoma) June 25, 1985 / Arsenal dump (New Jersey, 1926) / Brazilian rocket explosion (Brazil, 2003)
94. 19 – McKee refinery fire, Sunray, Texas
95. 19 - Morania Fire, Buffalo, New York, October 29, 1951. Destroyed Morania, Penobscot, and Dauntless.
96. 18 – Propane Sphere Explosion and Fire, Feyzin, France, January 4, 1966 / Mihăileşti explosion (Romania, 2004)
97. 16 – Pump House Explosion, Lune/Wyre Transfer Scheme, Abbeystead, England, May 23, 1984
98. 15 – BP Refinery, Isomerization Unit Explosion (killed 15 injured 180), Texas City, Texas USA March 23, 2005 / Gas explosions from underground shopping mall (Shizuoka, Japan, 1980)
99. 14 – 2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion (Port Wentworth, Georgia, United States, 2008) / Gas explosion in downtown Eagle Grove, Iowa, USA, February 3, 1973
100. 13 - Munitions Dump explosion Evangelos Florakis Naval Base & Vassilikos power plant (, July 11, 2011)
101. 11 – Deepwater Horizon oil spill, (Gulf of Mexico, near the Missipippi River Delta, United States of America, May 2010)
102. 10 – Metropolitan Store explosion, Windsor, ON, Canada, October 25, 1960