Mont Blanc Tunnel, 24 March 1999
A fire that began in a truck carrying margarine and flour blazed through the tunnel connecting France and Italy. The blaze reached temperatures of 1000 degrees Celsius and killed 35 people, who could not be rescued. The fire services had previously warned the company operating the tunnel that it would be extremely difficult to carry out rescue operations. The tunnel was used by 766,000 heavy goods vehicles in 1998. For more information on disasters during transport, take a look at TransAPELL from our Publications page or visit our Transport Disasters page.

Nuclear Power

Chernobyl, Ukraine (formerly USSR), 26 April 1986
During a routine test of one of the plant's nuclear reactors, numerous safety procedures were disregarded and a chain reaction led to a core meltdown. Thirty people were killed instantly, and over 135,000 had to be evacuated from within a 20-mile radius of the plant due to extreme levels of radiation. The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased sharply in the affected region, and figures indicate that over 2500 people have died as a result of this disaster. Besides design flaws in the reactor, responsibility for the accident lies with the absence of a "safety culture" and the appropriate preparedness for emergencies. Visit our Links page for websites with more information about the Chernobyl disaster, or read the TED Case Study.

Storage

Enschede, Netherlands, 13 May 2000
A fireworks factory in Enschede, Netherlands exploded, killing at least 20 people and injuring 562. Over 2000 members of the community, all of whom had been unaware of the existence of the factory, had to be evacuated, and hundreds of homes were destroyed. For more information on safety precautions for storage of hazardous materials, take a look at Storage of Hazardous Materials: A Technical Guide for Safe Warehousing in our Publications page.

Basel, Switzerland, 1 Nov. 1986
On November 1, a fire broke out at a Sandoz storehouse near Basel, Switzerland. The storehouse contained about 1,300 tonnes of at least 90 different chemicals. The majority of these chemicals were destroyed in the fire, but large quantities were introduced into the atmosphere, into the Rhine River through runoff of fire-fighting water (about 10,000 to 15,000 cubic meters), and into the soil and groundwater at the site. The exact mass of chemicals entering the Rhine has been estimated at somewhere between 13 and 30 tonnes. Following the accident, the biota in the Rhine was heavily damaged for several hundred kilometers. Most strongly affected were the benthic organisms and the eels, which were completely eradicated for a distance of about 400 km (an estimated 220 tonnes of eels were killed). Several compounds were detected in the sediments of the Rhine after the accident.

Fixed Hazardous Installations

Bhopal, India, 2-3 Dec. 1984
On the night of 2-3 December 1984, a sudden release of about 30 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) occurred at the Union Carbide pesticide plant at Bhopal, India. The accident was a result of poor safety management practices, poor early warning systems, and the lack of community preparedness. The accident led to the death of over 2,800 people living in the vicinity and caused respiratory damage and eye damage to over 20,000 others. At least 200,000 people fled Bhopal during the week after the accident. Estimates of the damage vary widely between US $350 million to as high as US $3 billion. For more information on hazard analysis methods that prevent disasters like this one take a look at Hazard Identification and Evaluation in a Local Community in our Publications page. For more information on the Bhopal disaster, read the TED Case Study or visit our Links page.

Ports and Sea Transport

Erika - France, 12 Dec. 1999
Erika, the 25-year-old vessel chartered by French oil company Total-Fina, foundered along France's Breton coastline, spilling 12,000 tons of heavy oil, and precipitating the worst ornithological disaster in history, in which 300,000 birds were killed. An investigation revealed that the ship had not been properly inspected, an all-too-common oversight in France, where only 15% of foreign ships that dock the country's ports undergo inspections. For more information on emergency prevention and response at sea, take a look at APELL for Port Areas in our Publications page. Visit our Links page for websites with more information about the Erika disaster.

Tailings Dam Failures

Baia Mare, Romania, 31 Jan. 2000
A poorly-designed tailings dam at a Romanian gold mine ruptured, and over the course of four days released water contaminated with cyanide, a leeching agent used to extract the gold, into the Somes River, a tributary of the Szamos, Tisza and Danube rivers. The cyanide reached levels of over 700 times normal concentrations, and killed all living species in its path. The poisoned water flowed into Hungary and Yugoslavia on the Szamos and Tisza rivers and back into Romania on the Danube. This international incident, with potential long-term effects for the people and environment of Eastern Europe, highlights the risk inherent in mining activity and the need for effective emergency planning. Our new publication, APELL for Mining, provides more information on emergency prevention and response planning for tailings dam failures. For more information on recent mining disasters, visit the Tailings Dam Failures database and visit our Links page for websites with more information about this specific disaster. For more information on mining accidents please viste the UNEP Mineral Resources Forum site