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Catastrophic explosion of a cloud of cyclohexane

  • ROYAUME-UNI
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[...]
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Explosion Of A Pyrotechnic Factory

Explosion of a pyrotechnic factory

  • PAYS-BAS
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[...]
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Agricultural NH3 Leak

Agricultural NH3 leak

  • FRANCE
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[...]
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Feyzin disaster

  • FRANCE
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[...]
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Explosion of confined vinyl chloride vapor

  • ETATS-UNIS
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[...]
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Landslide Over A Dam

Landslide over a dam

  • ITALIE
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[...]
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Break Of The Malpasset Dam

Break of the Malpasset Dam

  • FRANCE
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[...]
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Chemical Factory Explosion

Chemical factory explosion

  • ALLEMAGNE
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[...]
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Explosion In A Gunpowder Storage

Explosion in a gunpowder storage

  • FRANCE
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[...]
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