The real 'Towering Inferno'

On this day…..42 years ago, fire broke out in the 25-storey Joelma Building in the centre of Sao Paulo in Brazil. The blaze happened just a few weeks after the disaster movie, The Towering Inferno, was released, and it became known as ‘the real Towering Inferno’.

The fire was started by an electrical fault on the 11^th floor, and spread rapidly thanks to the ready availability of combustible materials such as paper, plastics and wooden walls and furniture, and within a few minutes, flames were leaping right up to the roof.

When the blaze began, there were more than 750 people inside, but the building had no emergency exits, fire alarms or sprinkler systems. More than 170 fled to the roof, but the heat and smoke foiled a helicopter rescue, and about 40 were killed jumping down or trying to get to firemen’s ladders out of reach below them.

Others died of suffocation attempting to escape via the building’s escalators, and altogether up to 189 people were killed. After the disaster, Brazil’s fire regulations were tightened up.

Deadliest building collapse of modern times - 24 accused on the run

The Rana Plaza disaster of 2013 in Bangladesh was the deadliest building collapse of modern times, costing the lives of at least 1,138 people. More than 2,000 were injured, and some are still not accounted for.

41 people were charged with murder in connection with the collapse, but now 24 have absconded. A court has issued arrest warrants, and ordered that their property should be seized. The owner of the building, Sohel Rana, is still in custody. The trial is expected to start by April.

The building on the outskirts of Dhaka, originally constructed as a 6-storey shopping mall, had been converted into a 9-floor factory complex. It is alleged that workers drew attention to cracks in the structure before it collapsed.

Bangladesh’s clothing industry employs 4 million people, and makes garments for a number of well-known Western names. (see also my blogs of May 20 and June 12, 2013, and June 1, 2015.)

Rana Plaza collapse - murder charges

The owner of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Bangladesh which collapsed in April 2013 with the loss of more than 1,100 lives has been charged with murder. It was the deadliest event of its kind in modern times.

Sohel Rana and 41 others, including government officials, are accused of ignoring warnings that the buildings, about 20 miles from the capital, Dhaka, were not safe. Any convicted of murder could face the death penalty.

There has been criticism of the length of time it has taken to bring charges, but investigators say they have had to take statements from more than 1,200 people. It is said this is the first time anyone has faced criminal charges over an accident in the country’s clothing industry, which is one of the biggest in the world, and provides cheap items for some well-known Western retailers.

It is alleged that three extra storeys had been illegally added to the building. After the disaster, Mr Rana tried to flee to India. (For more details, see my blog of 3 May 2013.)

Chile: the world's deadliest fire in a single building - 150th anniversary

On this day............150 years ago, the Chilean capital, Santiago, was the scene of perhaps the world's deadliest fire in a single building.  It happened in the church of La Campania on December 8, 1863 and up to 2,000 people perished.

The building was packed for a religious festival, and was 'hung from roof to floor with floating gauze and rich drapery'. There were also 'innumerable' paraffin lamps. A few, at the foot of a giant statue of the Virgin Mary, set fire to some fabric.

The flames spread through the building in no time and people rushed for the exits.  Women and girls fainted and were trampled to death, and soon the exits were so crammed with bodies that no one could get out.

Melting lead from the roof and burning oil from the lamps fell on the desperate congregation, and finally a huge bell came crashing down. At the time, the city had no organised fire brigade, but the disaster provided the necessary spur.  For the full story, see A Disastrous History of the World.

Latvian supermarket collapse

At least 32 people have been killed after the roof of a supermarket collapsed in the Latvian capital, Riga. Three of the dead were emergency workers, and there are fears that more people could be trapped inside. It is the country’s worst disaster since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The supermarket won an architectural prize when it opened just a couple of years ago, and the cause of the collapse is unclear, though there are reports that a garden was being built on the roof. Police are investigating to see whether there have been any breaches of building regulations.

Relatives have been asked to call the mobile phone numbers of those still missing to help rescue services locate them in the rubble. Witnesses said customers tried to run out when the roof started to collapse, but that the supermarket's electronic doors closed, trapping them inside.

Probably the deadliest store collapse of all time happened in the South Korean capital, Seoul, in 1995, when the five-storey Sampoong department store collapsed, killing 501 people. A police investigation revealed that it had been built with sub-standard cement and had been inadequately reinforced. For the full story, see A Disastrous History of the World. 

Bangladesh factory collapse now deadliest of modern times

The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building near the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, is now confirmed as the deadliest event of its kind in modern times.    Officials say the death toll has now reached 507, but that scores of people have still not been accounted for. 

About 2,500 people were injured as the 8-storey building fell, and rescuers say they do not know how many are still missing because they have not been able to get accurate figures from the factory owners.  Nine people have been arrested in connection with the disaster.

Ever since the Rana Plaza collapsed last week, workers in Bangladesh’s huge clothing industry have been holding protests to demand better safety standards.

Until now, the deadliest building failure of modern times was the collapse of the Sampoong department store in Seoul, South Korea in 1995, in which 501 people died. When part of the Circus Maximus in Rome collapsed during a gladiator fight some time between 138 and 161AD, it was said to have cost more than 1,100 lives.

*The second in my series of videos on Britain’s 20 Worst Military Disasters – the defeat of Boudicca.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR7U4cjenuQ

Bangladesh building collapse - owner arrested

The owner of the factory building that collapsed last Wednesday in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, killing hundreds of people, has been arrested by soldiers from the country’s Rapid Action Battalion at the border with India.

Five other people have also been detained - 3 owners of clothes factories that were housed in the Rana Plaza and 2 engineers.   Two more survivors have been pulled from the rubble today, but altogether about 360 people are known to have died.

Police said officials had ordered an evacuation of the block on Tuesday after cracks appeared, but that the factories ignored them, while municipal engineers are reported to have declared the building safe the day before it collapsed. 

Bangladesh has one of the biggest clothing industries in the world, providing cheap products for well-know Western retailers, but it has been widely criticised for low pay and dangerous conditions.     

*  Now available in paperback – Disaster! A History of Earthquakes, Floods, Plagues and Other Catastrophes.  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/disaster-john-withington/1111579925?ean=9781620871812

Indian building collapses

Nine people have been arrested in India in connection with the collapse of a high-rise block of flats in Mumbai last week.    74 people were killed.

The nine, who include builders, police officers and local officials, are alleged to have paid bribes to police and municipal officials so they could put up the building without official sanction.   They may face charges of culpable homicide and causing death by negligence.

Even though work is said to have started on the block just six weeks ago, seven floors had already been completed, and people had been moved into some apartments.    Most of the dead were poorly paid construction workers and their families.

India has suffered a number of deadly building collapses in recent years.   In November 2010, a 15 year old block of flats in New Delhi came down as an additional storey was being added.   At least 67 people, mostly poor migrants, died.

 *I am posting a series of videos on Britain’s 20 Worst Military Disasters.  This is the first.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Bgf-xHHGE