Disaster Area

It was just a little house fire. It should have gone out in no time. In a safer building, it would have. But within an hour and a half of the first call to 999 that night, Grenfell Tower was fully ablaze.

Videos:

• Grenfell: The Fire of London
• Grenfell: The Worst Tower Block Fire in London History
• Grenfell Tower tragedy in 3D
• 12 Firefighters have Terminal Cancer Since 2017 Rescue
• First Reports of Grenfell Tower fire
• New video timeline shows how the Grenfell Tower fire unfolded
• What Happened With The Cladding At Grenfell Tower?

Articles and books:

• Show Me The Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen, by Peter Apps
• Grenfell Tower inferno a 'disaster waiting to happen' as concerns are raised for safety of other buildings
• Concerns raised about Grenfell Tower 'for years'
• Fire alarm at Grenfell Tower was never meant for residents
• Grenfell: Cladding firm suggested use of cheaper panels
• Grenfell Tower refurbishment used cheaper cladding and tenants accused builders of shoddy workmanship
• Residents warned of 'catastrophic' Grenfell Tower block fire three years ago - but pleas 'fell on deaf ears'
• Faulty tumble dryer 'caused Shepherd's Bush tower block fire'
• Twenty-seven minutes and Grenfell Tower fire had taken hold: so why weren't residents told to get out?
• Grenfell Tower graphic: what we know about how the fire spread
• Questions Mount After Fire at Grenfell Tower in London Kills at Least 12
• IFSEC Global: Grenfell Tower Fire: latest Inquiry updates and full timeline
• Behailu Kedebe's statement to the inquiry
• Kingspan: Fire performance of phenolic insulation
• Dozen Grenfell firefighters diagnosed with terminal cancer
• Fire crews extinguish blaze at Shepherd's Bush tower block

It was just a little house fire. It should have gone out in no time. In a safer building, it would have. But within an hour and a half of the first call to 999 that night, Grenfell Tower was fully ablaze.

Videos:

• Grenfell: The Fire of London
• Grenfell: The Worst Tower Block Fire in London History
• Grenfell Tower tragedy in 3D
• 12 Firefighters have Terminal Cancer Since 2017 Rescue
• First Reports of Grenfell Tower fire
• New video timeline shows how the Grenfell Tower fire unfolded
• What Happened With The Cladding At Grenfell Tower?

Articles and books:

• Show Me The Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen, by Peter Apps
• Grenfell Tower inferno a 'disaster waiting to happen' as concerns are raised for safety of other buildings
• Concerns raised about Grenfell Tower 'for years'
• Fire alarm at Grenfell Tower was never meant for residents
• Grenfell: Cladding firm suggested use of cheaper panels
• Grenfell Tower refurbishment used cheaper cladding and tenants accused builders of shoddy workmanship
• Residents warned of 'catastrophic' Grenfell Tower block fire three years ago - but pleas 'fell on deaf ears'
• Faulty tumble dryer 'caused Shepherd's Bush tower block fire'
• Twenty-seven minutes and Grenfell Tower fire had taken hold: so why weren't residents told to get out?
• Grenfell Tower graphic: what we know about how the fire spread
• Questions Mount After Fire at Grenfell Tower in London Kills at Least 12
• IFSEC Global: Grenfell Tower Fire: latest Inquiry updates and full timeline
• Behailu Kedebe's statement to the inquiry
• Kingspan: Fire performance of phenolic insulation
• Dozen Grenfell firefighters diagnosed with terminal cancer
• Fire crews extinguish blaze at Shepherd's Bush tower block

Have you ever been stranded in your car in the middle of a snowstorm? Now imagine there are 350 other people in the car with you, and you're all stuck in that storm in the middle of an Alaskan canal for nearly two days. People come to rescue you but can't get any closer. And with every passing hour, your car groans and threatens to sink. That was what happened to the SS Princess Sophia in 1918.

Videos:

• Disasters of the Century: The Princess Sophia Sinking
• The Sea Hunters: The Princess Sophia tragedy

Articles and books:

• Stranded: Alaska's Worst Maritime Disaster Nearly Happened Twice, by Aaron Saunders
• Report on the wreck of the Princess Sophia
• Forgotten Voyage
• Remembering the Princess Sophia: The Titanic of the Pacific West Coast
• National Park Service: The Princess Sophia
• The Wreck of HMCS Galiano October 1918

Ah, flying in the 1950s. Fancy clothes, good food, smoking in the airplane, and the chance to see sights you'd never get to see otherwise. Two planes flying over the Grand Canyon on a summer day in 1956 should have passed by perfectly fine, and probably would have on any other day. But tragedy would strike over one of the most beautiful places on Earth, changing the aviation industry in one horrifying moment.

Videos:

• Fatal Collision Over the Grand Canyon | America's Worst Disaster | United 718 and TWA 2

• Air Collision Over The Grand Canyon | Mayday | On The Move

• Historic Archaeology: The 1956 Grand Canyon Aviation Accident by Ben Carver (playlist)

Articles and books:

• Historic Plane Wreck Site Protected
• The Site of a 1950s Plane Crash Just Became a National Landmark But the Park Service won't tell you how to get there.
• CAB accident report

On April 6th, 2018, the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team from Saskatchewan, Canada, were on their way to a playoff game in Nipawin. They weren't expecting the semi-tractor trailer headed westbound on Highway 335 - right into their path.

Videos:

• Humboldt: The New Season
• How the Humboldt bus crash happened
• Special coverage of the tragedy in Humboldt, Saskatchewan
• W5: Jaskirat Sidhu, the 'Humboldt Driver,' speaks about the tragedy

Articles and books:

• Agreed Statement of Facts - Humboldt Broncos Bus Crash
• Humboldt bus crash cause unknown as new details on truck and bus driving companies emerge
• Kingston man speaks to Humboldt crash intersection, where he lost his family 20 years ago
• Humboldt Broncos crash: What the RCMP forensics team found
• Humboldt presented E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence
• Coroner apologizes after mistaking Humboldt Broncos victim; Xavier LaBelle is alive
• Sports Illustrated: The Valley of Darkness
• 'One of the darkest days in the history of Saskatchewan' as 15 die in bus crash
• Humboldt Broncos crash site is no stranger to tragedy

The start of the summer season in Paris in the 1890s could arguably be the Bazar de la Charité, sort of a rummage sale for the wealthy to benefit the poor. The height of Parisian's female society passed through its doors each year, and May 4th, 1897, was no different. But the presence of the bazaar's biggest novelty - a cinematograph showing films by the Lumière brothers - also led to a gruesome tragedy.

Videos:

• Visit to the site of the charity fire on Rue Jean Goujon
• Documentaire sur l'histoire de l'incendie du bazar de la charité

Article and books:

• A D V E N T U R E S in C Y B E R S O U N D: Charles Pathe
• The Tragic 1897 Charity Bazaar Fire of Paris
• Remembering a Belle Époque inferno in Paris
• COWARDICE OF PARIS MEN Exhibited in Brutal Form During the Burning of the Charity Bazaar
• The Bazar de la Charité Disaster: part one, part two, part three, and part four.
• The Bazar de la Charite website
• A History of Women Who Burned to Death in Flammable Dresses
• Heroes and Legends of Fin-de-Siécle France, by Venita Datta

On April 15th, 2013, runners in Boston were approaching the finish line of the city's esteemed marathon at ten minutes to three in the afternoon when a large explosion tore through the crowd. Thirteen seconds later, a second one went off down the street. The manhunt for the men who committed the attack would last several days and take over the entire metropolitan area.

Videos:

• The Days That Shaped America: Boston Bombing
• Nova - Manhunt Boston Bombers
• Boston Marathon Documentary - Amazing History & Injustices
• Discovery+: What Really Happened, the Boston Marathon bombing, parts one and two

Articles and books:

• Criminal complaint against the surviving Boston bomber
• MIT News: "He loved us, and we loved him."
• Boston Bomb Victim in Photo Helped Identify Suspects
• Cambridge Man Indicted for Making False Statements in the Boston Marathon Bombing Terrorism Investigation
• Here's what various parts of the Boston Marathon bombing memorial represent
• Boston Strong: A City's Triumph Over Tragedy, by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge
• Officer Dennis Simmonds: 5 things to know about the Boston bombing's 5th victim
• Boston suspects [Update]: 'Very normal,' yet struggling to fit in
• Robel Phillipos sentenced to three years in prison
• Family says goodbye to youngest blast victim
• Timeline of Boston Marathon Bombing Events

On April 15th, 2013, runners in Boston were approaching the finish line of the city's esteemed marathon at ten minutes to three in the afternoon when a large explosion tore through the crowd. Thirteen seconds later, a second one went off down the street. The manhunt for the men who committed the attack would last several days and take over the entire metropolitan area.

Videos:

• The Days That Shaped America: Boston Bombing
• Nova - Manhunt Boston Bombers
• Boston Marathon Documentary - Amazing History & Injustices
• Discovery+: What Really Happened, the Boston Marathon bombing, parts one and two

Articles and books:

• Criminal complaint against the surviving Boston bomber
• MIT News: "He loved us, and we loved him."
• Boston Bomb Victim in Photo Helped Identify Suspects
• Cambridge Man Indicted for Making False Statements in the Boston Marathon Bombing Terrorism Investigation
• Here's what various parts of the Boston Marathon bombing memorial represent
• Boston Strong: A City's Triumph Over Tragedy, by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge
• Officer Dennis Simmonds: 5 things to know about the Boston bombing's 5th victim
• Boston suspects [Update]: 'Very normal,' yet struggling to fit in
• Robel Phillipos sentenced to three years in prison
• Family says goodbye to youngest blast victim
• Timeline of Boston Marathon Bombing Events

The family dinner party was in full swing, despite the host needing to be carried out in a drunken stupor only twenty minutes earlier. But this is no ordinary family. This is the royal palace of Nepal, and the host - Crown Prince Dipendra - is about to return, angry and armed.

Videos:

• Zero Hour : The Nepalese Royal Massacre
• Why Nepal's Prince Organised A Royal Massacre | Asia's Monarchies | Real Royalty

Articles and books:

• Love and Death in Kathmandu: A Strange Tale of Royal Murder, by Amy Willisee and Mark Whittaker
• Death, Love and Conspiracy: The Nepalese Royal Massacre of 2001
• A Witness To Massacre In Nepal Tells Gory Details
• Prince blamed for Nepal massacre

The Mexico City suburb of San Juan Ixhuatepec was the home of poor immigrants, working-class families, dozens of large businesses, and a Pemex oil and gas company site - at least, until November 19th, 1984.

Videos:

• Ciudadano Infraganti Explosiones de San Juanico 1984

Articles and books:

• San Juan Ixhuatepec remembers one of world's worst industrial disasters
• Three decades on, survivors of worst Pemex blast still want answers
• Mexican Blast Stirs Anger, Criticism
• Center for Chemical Process Safety: Thirty Years Ago - An LPG Tragedy
• State and community during the aftermath of Mexico City's November 19, 1984 Gas Explosion
• Mexico Furor Over Gas Blast Is Quickly Over
• Recordando la catástrofe de San Juanico
• They convert land where the San Juanico explosion occurred into a recreational park