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SKC Films Library >> In The Year... >> 1961

Disasters in 1961

AVIATION

January 3 A Finnish airliner crashed near Vaasa, Finland, killing all 25 persons aboard.

January 26 A U.S. Military Air Transport disappeared over Newfoundland, Canada, with 23 persons aboard.

February 15 A Sabena Airlines plane coming in for a landing crashed near Brussels, Belgium, killing all 72 persons aboard and 1 person on the ground. Among the dead were 18 members of the U.S. Figure Skating Team, which was on its way to a world meet in Czechoslovakia.

March 25 A Brazilian C-47 crashed in Natal, Brazil, killing 23 of the 28 persons aboard.

March 28 A Czechoslovak Airlines plane crashed and burned in a wooded area near Forcheim, West Germany, while attempting an emergency landing, killing all 52 persons aboard.

April 3 A Chilean National Airlines plane crashed in the Andes, killing all 28 persons aboard, including 8 members of the Santaiago soccer team.

May 10 An Air France Super Constellation crashed near Edjele, Algeria, killing all 79 persons aboard.

May 24 A U.S. Air Force C-124 transport crashed and burned near McChord Air Force Base, Washington; 18 persons were killed and 4 others injured.

May 30 A Venezuelan airliner crashed near Lisbon, Portugal, during a rainstorm, killing all 61 persons aboard.

June 12 A Dutch airliner crashed while landing at Cairo, United Arab Republic, killing 21 of the 37 persons aboard.

July 1 An Argentine Airlines plane crashed and burned near Buenos Aires, Argentina; 23 persons were killed, 12 others aboard were injured.

July 11 A United Air Lines DC-8 with 122 persons aboard careened off the runway while landing at Stapleton Field in Denver, Colorado, struck a parked truck, and burst into flames. Sixteen persons aboard the plane were killed, as was the driver of the truck. [newspaper account]

Stretcher-bearers remove victims from the burned-out wreckage of the DC-8.

July 17 A Czech airliner struck a high-tension cable in a heavy fog and crashed at the Camp Cazes, Morocco, airport; all 72 persons aboard were killed.

July 19 An Argentine Airlines plane caught fire and fell into a swamp near Azul, Argentina, while attempting an emergency landing, killing all 67 persons aboard.

August 6 A Hungarian Airlines plane carrying sight-seers crashed onto an apartment house roof in Budapest, Hungary, killing all 27 persons aboard and 3 persons on the ground.

August 9 A British airliner carrying 34 vacationing schoolboys, 2 teachers, and 3 crew members crashed into a mountain near Stavanger, Norway; all aboard were killed.

September 1 A Trans World Airlines Constellation crashed four minutes after taking off from Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois, killing all 78 persons aboard.

September 10 A President Airlines DC-6 plunged into the Shannon River soon after taking off from Shannon, Ireland, killing all 83 persons aboard.

September 12 An Air France Caravelle crashed and burned near Rabat, Morocco, killing all 78 persons aboard.

September 17 A Northwest Orient Airlines Electra II airliner crashed shortly after taking off from O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, killing all 37 persons aboard. [newspaper account]

September 18 A Swedish DC-6B carrying an 8-member UN peace mission to the Congo crashed near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia. All 16 persons aboard died, including UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld.

Wreckage of Dag Hammarskjöld's plane, the "Albertina."

September 23 A Turkish twin-engine airliner nearing Esendoga, Turkey, during a torrential downpour crashed into a mountain; 28 persons were killed, 1 survivor was seriously injured.

October 7 A Derby Aviation, Ltd. DC-3 crashed into the Eastern Pyrenees of France, killing all 37 persons aboard.

November 1 A Brazilian airliner crashed into a hillside near Recife, Brazil, killing 45 of the 88 persons aboard.

November 8 A chartered Constellation carrying 74 U.S. Army recruits and 5 crewmen crashed and burned near Richmond, Virginia; 2 crewmen survived. [newspaper account]

November 23 An Argentine Comet IV crashed shortly after taking off from Săo Paulo, Brazil, killing all 52 persons aboard.

December 19 A plane chartered by a news photographer, reporting on a convoy of supplies for flood victims, hit a high-tension wire and plunged into a crowd of a spectators in Seville, Spain. Thirty persons were killed, including the pilot and photographer; 120 others were injured.

December 21 A British Comet IVB exploded and crashed moments after take-off from Ankara, Turkey, during a snowstorm; 28 of the 34 persons aboard were killed.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

January 3 An explosion at the National Reactor Testing Station near Idaho Falls, Idaho, killed 3 technicians.

January 4 An explosion in an oxygen-producing plant rocked Dortmund, West Germany, and killed 12 persons.

January 6 A fire at the Thomas Hotel in San Francisco, California, killed 20 persons and injured 38 others. [newspaper accounts]

January 28 Nine firemen were killed and 15 injured when a wall collapsed on them while fighting a factory fire in Chicago, Illinois. [newspaper accounts]

What was left of the two-story warehouse in which nine firemen were killed.

February 16 A 35-ton crane exploded after it fell into a missile pit at Roswell, New Mexico, killing 6 workmen.

February 22 A plastics factory explosion and fire killed 23 workers in Madrid, Spain.

March 17 A factory fire killed 23 persons in Jalgaon, India.

April 6 A gunpowder and ammunition store exploded in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 23 persons.

April 15 Explosions at a gasoline station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, killed 3 firemen.

May 1 Fire destroyed a private club in Bolton, England, and killed 19 persons.

May 3 A fireworks factory explosion in Caracas, Venezuela, killed 38 persons and injured more than 50 others.

May 15 Explosion and fire destroyed a tenement in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and killed at least 25 persons.

May 19 A fire in Manila, Philippines, left 2,000 families homeless and caused about $25 million worth of damages.

May 22 An explosion at the Allegheny Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, West Virginia, destroyed 2 buildings and killed 9 persons.

May 25 Fire destroyed much of the Singapore city center and killed 1 person.

June 21 A Union Carbide Corporation liquid-oxygen plant in Detroit, Michigan, was torn by an explosion that killed 3 men.

June 21 An explosion demolished a building at the Lehigh-Portland Cement Company plant in Mitchell, Indiana, and killed 4 workmen.

August 15 A prison dormitory at Taubaté, Brazil, was set ablaze by inmates attempting toescape; 40 prisoners died in the flames.

November 6-9 What began as a brush fire destroyed a total of 484 homes (some of them belonging to celebrities) in the Bel-Air and Brentwood neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Despite the widespread destruction, there were no deaths or major injuries.

Ruins and foundations were all that was left of these homes after a brush fire spread onto Linda Flora Drive in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.

November 28 An explosion in a nursery and training school in Mexico City, Mexico, killed 15 persons and injured 54 others.

December 8 Fire in the Hartford (Connecticut) Hospital killed 16 persons. [newspaper accounts]

December 17 Fire destroyed the main tent of the Grand North American Circus in Niterói, Brazil, killing 323 persons.

December 24 A bomb exploded among a crowd of 500 persons during a Christmas Eve celebration being held in an army barracks in Buga, Colombia; 51 persons were killed and more than 110 injured.

MARINE

January 7 A motor launch en route from Iran to Kuwait caught fire and sank in the Persian Gulf, killing 88 persons.

January 11 A ship was wrecked in a storm off Alhucemas, Morocco, killing 42 persons.

January 23 A broken fuel-oil line caused a fire on the U.S. aircraft carrier Saratoga while she was in the Ionian Sea. Seven crewmen were killed.

February 16 Two launches collided on the Meghna River about 70 miles from Dacca, East Pakistan; about 100 persons drowned.

April 8 Explosions and fire on the British ocean liner Dara killed 212 persons. The ship was in the Persian Gulf at the time.

May 2 Six persons drowned when the Albatross, a sailing ship used as a school at sea for boys, was hit by a squall and sank off Tampa, Florida.

June 7 The motorship Aung Teza sank in the Andaman Sea, killing 85 persons.

July 8-9 An explosion grounded the Portuguese ship Save near the Linde River Estuary in Mozambique and killed 259 persons.

September 3 The tourist boat Vencedor sank in Buenaventura Bay, Colombia; 54 persons drowned, 20 others were missing.

September 11 The boat Salamat, loaded with 130 evacuees from the flooded village of Gopali, India, sank in the Narbada River; 95 persons drowned.

September 29 An explosion and fire aboard the Norwegian Starcarrier killed 21 persons while the ship was off Diégo-Suarez, Malagasy Republic.

October 19 A ferryboat overturned in a canal 27 miles north of Cairo, Egypt, drowning 23 persons.

October 22 The Italian passenger ship Bianca C caught fire after a minor engine room explosion while coming into the port of St. George's, Grenada. Two crewmen died and 20 of the 708 persons who escaped were injured.

November 5 The British cargo ship Clan Keith sank off the Tunisian coast after a boiler explosion, killing 58 persons.

November 6 Fire broke out in the engine room of the U.S. aircraft carrier Constellation while she was on her maiden sea trials, killing 4 men and injuring 9 others.

November 6 The British freighter Clan Keith exploded and sank while battling a storm in the Mediterranean Sea; 61 persons aboard died, 7 were rescued.

November 7 The Norwegian tanker Berean and the Chinese Nationalist freighter Union Reliance collided off Houston, Texas. Eleven persons were killed on the freighter.

December 13 Fire on the newly commissioned Maria Konopnicka killed at least 22 persons, at Gdansk, Poland.

December 19 A ferryboat capsized and sank near Wan Island, Korea; 34 persons drowned.

MINING

February 17 An explosion of dynamite in a gold mine near Johannesburg, South Africa, killed 30 workers and injured 40 others.

March 2 An explosion in the Viking coal mine near Terre Haute, Indiana, killed 22 men. [newspaper account]

March 8 Fire in the Kamikiyo mine at Fuduoka, Japan, killed 71 men.

March 15 Fire in the Shin-Otus colliery at Fuduoka, Japan, killed 26 men.

June 23 A mine at Petros, Tennessee, collapsed, killing 3 men.

July 7 A gas explosion in a coal mine at Dolna Suce, Czechoslovakia, killed 108 workers.

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SKC Films Library >> In The Year... >> 1961

This page was last updated on September 18, 2018.