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The 20th century was marked by unprecedented disasters, including the 1931 Yangtze River flood (millions killed), the 1976 Tangshan earthquake (approx. 240,000–650,000+ deaths), and industrial catastrophes like the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. Devastating conflicts, primarily World War I and II, created massive loss of life.
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00:10Since the advent of the news cameraman in the earlier part of this century, we have
00:15become accustomed to seeing dramatic scenes unfold throughout the world as we watch in
00:21the comfort and safety of the cinemas and our own homes.
00:25We have seen history in the making as the events that have shaped our lives have been
00:29caught on camera as they happen.
00:42We have also seen many disasters as they occur throughout the world.
00:47Natural disasters, floods devastating whole towns, earthquakes ripping apart cities, volcanoes
00:58erupting and spilling their molten ash over anything that happens to be in the way.
01:07We have watched awestruck as chains have crashed.
01:13Our aircraft have collided and broken apart in the skies in front of our eyes.
01:22Buildings have burned to the ground as the cameras have continued to turn.
01:27Even on the high seas we have watched great ships and liners of the world, such as the Titanic,
01:33go down to a watery grave.
01:36Wherever and whenever dramatic scenes have occurred, the news camera has always been there.
01:41Sometimes during the event, sometimes immediately after.
01:54In March 1936, a new airship rolled out from the sheds at Friedrichshaven, the Hindenburg.
02:03In May 1936 she went into service and between then and October of that year, the Hindenburg
02:09covered no less than ten transatlantic round trips between Frankfurt and Lakehurst.
02:14She also completed several round trips to South America.
02:18This was the airship of all airships.
02:22A flying hotel, carrying 72 passengers and more than 30 crew.
02:27She was immense.
02:30In fact, only 70 feet shorter than the Titanic.
02:34She never once missed a scheduled flight and never once had to abandon a flight or turn back.
02:41One American newspaper referred to the Hindenburg as a galleon of the air.
02:48She was far faster than the steamships, far more regular in schedules and even more important,
02:54the rigid airship appeared to be safe.
02:58The age of airship travel had truly arrived.
03:02By May 1937 she was ready to begin her new series of flights across the Atlantic.
03:08Eighteen flights to Lakehurst had been scheduled.
03:12She had already made one round trip flight to Rio earlier in the spring.
03:18When the Hindenburg left Germany for its first transatlantic trip to Lakehurst in 1937, Hugo
03:24Ekena was not on board.
03:26Never could he have imagined such a tragic ending to his dream.
03:31She took off from Frankfurt on the morning of May the 3rd.
03:35There had been a bomb threat the previous day, but this and the numerous threats that had been previously received
03:41were not taken seriously and had never amounted to anything more.
03:47During the flight the Hindenburg encountered severe headwinds and these added an extra half day or more to her flying
03:53time before landing in Lakehurst.
03:56On the morning of May the 6th, Max Pruss, commanding the Hindenburg, had radioed ahead that instead of the schedule
04:036am arrival, they should expect them around 6pm.
04:08The Hindenburg was by now passing over the coast of Maine.
04:12At noon she flew over the city of Boston.
04:15She was nearing her journey's end.
04:18She had made up some time and Captain Pruss indicated that he would now be over the landing field at
04:234pm.
04:25However, there was a storm blowing up ahead and this would catch them just as they approached Lakehurst.
04:50Eugen Bentele was a crew member on the Hindenburg during that flight.
05:00Eugen Bentele was a crew member on the Hindenburg during that flight.
05:01New York was pretty normal.
05:02We were a few hours late because there was a heavy headwind.
05:08Nevertheless, we did the obligatory flight around the skyscrapers in Manhattan.
05:20The New Yorkers, who you would think are used to anything, used to look up in amazement as we went
05:26by the skyscrapers and the ships would all sound their horns.
05:35Having cleared New York by 4pm, the Hindenburg was over Lakehurst.
05:40Although a crowd had gathered, the ground crew were not standing by.
05:45The weather had worsened and the Hindenburg circled the airfield then flew off towards the New Jersey coastline.
05:52A few hours later, it was considered clear enough to land.
06:06And so in we flew, about 70 metres from the ground, and the holding team were assembled below us.
06:17During a storm, or if the atmosphere is not quite right, we don't try and land by ourselves at this
06:23point.
06:23We drop the landing ropes from the bow, and the holding team will try to pull the ship down.
06:36John Iannokuni was one of the landing crew on duty at Lakehurst that day.
06:45He watched the Hindenburg make her final approach.
06:48And it stopped raining and it was starting to clear up.
06:52And the first thing you know, the ship went on by us and came back again on the second time.
06:58And that's when she proceeded to make her landing.
07:02When she got over the ground crew, it seemed like the wind had died down and the people, the airship
07:11dropped their two landing lines, and the ground crew had a hold of them.
07:15And that's when I noticed a big red glow just falling off the top fin.
07:26The landing seemed as usual. We didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
07:31We had often flown through thunderstorms and there had never been a problem.
07:38We had never had any problems or calamities with the Hindenburg.
07:43As we were about to come into land, six men were ordered up into the bow section.
07:48This, again, is normal to distribute the weight.
07:54Since I was free and didn't have to prepare food, I went forward and headed to the bow section.
08:08On the way forward, I noticed an air valve which was to remain open with the fresh air coming in.
08:18I thought this would be a good place to sit, so I sat down on one of the girders.
08:27I looked down. Suddenly there was a very strong shock going through the ship.
08:33I could see people below me running away.
08:37I thought, what has happened? Perhaps one of the landing ropes broke free or something like that.
08:44But then I looked above me and couldn't believe what I saw above my head.
08:49Fire.
08:50Fire.
08:50Fire.
08:55Fire.
09:07Fire.
09:13Fire.
09:16Fire.
09:17Fire.
09:18Fire.
09:19Fire.
09:41As we ran towards it, we saw one man jump out of the nose, and of course, the fire came
09:48out of there like a blowtarch, and it didn't hit him, but the man that stayed in the ship,
09:52he got burnt from the top of his head to his feet, and all he had on was his shoes.
10:00Everything was burnt off.
10:02The back touched the ground first, because the gas burnt there first.
10:08Then the whole framework just folded together.
10:17The actual crash was not that hard, but we were tipping up at a very steep angle, and
10:23I was thrown out over past one of the engines.
10:27I just missed one of the propellers as I flew over the engine.
10:31It was still turning, I remember.
10:37And then I blacked out.
10:39When I came to, I instinctively ran away from the ship, although I was in a complete daze.
10:45Then I realized my back was burning.
10:47In fact, it was my overalls.
10:48They were on fire.
10:57I just thought I had better get off the ship.
11:00I thought that I would wait for the gondola to hit the ground, and then try and jump off.
11:08I cannot remember now how I did get off.
11:11It just seems to me that I blacked out and then fell through never-ending space.
11:15I do remember thinking this was the end.
11:19But then I was lucky.
11:20I hit sand.
11:21It was soft.
11:22I managed to get to my feet and run away.
11:30All of my friends, who were up on a higher level than me on A-deck, lost their lives.
11:49I was hardly injured, just a few cuts and bruises.
11:52But I was taken to hospital.
11:54I was in a severe state of shock.
11:57After they got on the ground, most of us ran towards the ship to see what we could do.
12:04And we saw a lot of the passengers and part of the crew running out from underneath it.
12:10And in my particular area, we got close to the ship, and we saw an old couple still in the
12:17ship, and we helped them to get out.
12:20I also saw the little cabin boy run out from underneath it.
12:23He was soaking wet in one of the tanks.
12:24It burst above him and soaked him, and after they hit the ground, we could see him running out from
12:34underneath it.
12:35It was just an accident that happened.
12:42On February the 7th, 1958, millions of British soccer fans were grief-stricken by the news
12:49that one of Britain's finest teams had been virtually wiped out in an air crash.
12:55Manchester United was returning from a victory against the Yugoslav team in Belgrade,
13:01when their British European Airways airspeed ambassador failed to leave the runway at Munich airport and crashed into a house.
13:11The accident was caused by wet snow on the runway, which hindered the aircraft's acceleration.
13:18When he could see he was running out of runway, Captain Thayne, the pilot, applied the brakes,
13:24only to find the runway had become like a ski slope.
13:28Twenty-three of the passengers on board were killed, including seven of the team and seven sports journalists.
13:38On the evening of the 3rd of June 1973, the Paris suburb of Goussinville was in a state of shock.
13:47During the afternoon at the Paris air show, the Soviet Tu-144 supersonic airliner,
13:53commonly known as the Soviet Konkorsky, had crashed, killing 14 people.
14:04On the evening of the 5th of October 1992, a fully laden El Al cargo plane took off from Schiphol
14:21airport in Amsterdam.
14:24Just a few minutes into its flight, the Boeing 747 fell from the sky.
14:29The pilot struggled with the controls to veer the stricken aircraft away from the densely populated area on the outskirts
14:38of the city, without success.
14:53The aircraft smashed a path through two apartment buildings.
14:58Seventy people, including all of the crew, were killed, and hundreds more were injured.
15:15The broken remains of the 737 lie embedded in the M1 embankment, just half a mile from the airport,
15:22where Captain Kevin Hunt had desperately tried to make his emergency landing.
15:26Even closer, the village of Kegworth.
15:29Residents there have praised the pilot, who they say managed to lift the plane as it dropped towards their homes
15:34with an engine on fire.
15:36Rescue services had made it to the scene within minutes, alerted by Captain Hunt's warning that he was in trouble.
15:43Throughout the night, professionals worked alongside local residents and passers-by to reach the dead and injured.
15:52To speed them on their way, permission was granted for RAF helicopters to descend onto makeshift landing pads.
15:59It meant waving them down on the southbound carriageway of Britain's normally busiest motorway.
16:10Despite the high death toll, the majority did survive, though it took most of the night for some to be
16:15reached.
16:16The last to emerge came into the open eight hours after the crash occurred.
16:22Half an hour later, the final passenger was removed, but this time there was little the rescuers could do.
16:29As daybreak approached, the flight path leading into the East Midlands airport became busy once more.
16:40I was at number ten last night when I got the news, and I think we were all almost in
16:47a state of shock and disbelief,
16:48because we just couldn't think that we would have another tragedy like this.
16:56In December 1988, Britain experienced its worst-ever air disaster.
17:04A Pan Am Boeing 747 fell from the sky onto the town of Lockerbie in Scotland.
17:10The aircraft had exploded in mid-air as a result of a terrorist bomb, scattering pieces of the shattered 747
17:18over an area of ten square miles.
17:24Hundreds of rescue workers were quickly on the scene in the hunt for survivors.
17:29Somewhere in that vast area were the bodies of the 258 passengers that had perished.
17:37The blazing main section had struck a hill to the east of Lockerbie, spraying thousands of gallons of aviation fuel
17:44over the surrounding houses.
17:53Lorry drivers from the nearby trunk road were some of the first on the scene.
17:59There was nothing we could do here at all. I mean, absolutely nothing.
18:03The guy behind me, we started running across the fields to the houses.
18:05You know, I mean, one or two houses were totally engulfed again, nothing you could do, but the ones on
18:09the outskirts, you know, there was obviously hope, you know.
18:13One eyewitness stated that flames hundreds of feet high lit up the sky.
18:19Fires were breaking out all over, you know, as if it was oil or something that landed on the roofs
18:24of the houses, and it was catching fire from the sparks off of this.
18:29And, er, at the side of that house, I thought I'd seen a lad running, maybe my imagination, but I
18:36thought he was on fire like.
18:40And, er, by the time I got up there, I got this, this old lady was wandering about, she was,
18:47she was in shock.
18:49I cannae believe what I've seen over there, I couldn't, er, I couldnnae believe that, I didn't think that could
18:55happen.
18:55Fires were breaking, as I was walking up the street, the fires were breaking out in front of me, behind
19:00me, and I was starting to, I was frightened.
19:04It just happened, you know, I mean, these things, I don't know, can't they just, sorry, this is just affecting
19:15me now.
19:19Next morning, the full extent of the damage and carnage became even more apparent.
19:26The smashed remains of the aircraft's cockpit section sat high up on a hill overlooking the town.
19:34Finding the remains of the victims was a mammoth task, with bodies spread over the vast area.
19:43Police set up a control center overlooking the stricken town.
19:48More than 40 homes were destroyed by the falling wreckage of the airliner, adding a number of residents to the
19:55dead and injured.
19:57Two rows of houses had been flattened by the airplane's engines.
20:05This small Scottish town, with a population of just over 3,000, would never be the same again.
20:12The scars of this horrific disaster would take generations to heal.
20:21Somewhere around the town, in an area of 10 square miles, were the bodies of 258 passengers and crew.
20:29Pan Am Flight 103 had taken off from London's Heathrow Airport, at 6.25pm, on a routine 7-hour flight
20:38to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
20:43The list of dead included U.S. and Japanese diplomats, along with a number of U.S. servicemen, flying home
20:50for Christmas with their families.
20:53In all, 270 people perished at Lockerbie on that cold December evening.
21:00Although this was one of Britain's worst ever disasters, it was no accident.
21:20On April the 10th, 1912, the White Star Line's new luxury passenger liner, the Titanic, prepared for her maiden voyage
21:30from Southampton, bound for New York.
21:34She was, at that time, the largest ship in the world.
21:39And, what's more, she'd been dubbed the Unsinkable, because of her unique construction of 16 watertight compartments.
21:48As a consequence, she was fitted with a minimum number of lifeboats, the theory being that she would never need
21:54them.
21:56Her first-class passenger list for the voyage included one of America's wealthiest men, John Jacob Astor.
22:04Five days later, the Titanic was to become the most famous passenger ship in history.
22:09A place she retains to this day.
22:16On the night of the 14th of April, the Titanic hit an iceberg.
22:21The result was catastrophic and evolved into one of the greatest disasters in maritime history.
22:31Of the 2,350 passengers and crew on board, 1,500 are believed to have perished.
22:40By dawn, the Cunard liner Carpathia had arrived at the scene to pick up any survivors.
22:46Captain Arthur Rostron had transformed his passenger liner en route to the Mediterranean into an emergency field hospital,
22:55and managed to rescue 866 survivors, all of whom were half dead from the cold.
23:02These are pictures of some of the crew who survived the ordeal, on their safe arrival in New York.
23:09When the luxury liner Morrill Castle burned furiously off the shore of Asbury Park,
23:13while frantic passengers struggled in the water alongside her hulk,
23:17America experienced one of her greatest maritime tragedies.
23:21129 men, women and children died or drowned at the disastrous end of a weekend vacation cruise to southern waters.
23:29You see, I have a watch here, and it stopped exactly at 25 minutes to five.
23:34That's the time I jumped in the water.
23:37And from then on, I hung around the water, trying my best not to get all excited, for seven hours.
23:48A bellboy on my life belt that didn't have no life belt or life reserve on.
23:53So they took him on and left me there, and three hours later, one of the boats picked me up.
24:02We were in the water five hours.
24:05All except that there was another girl in our party who was in another room,
24:09and we couldn't find her, and I still don't know whether she has been rescued or not.
24:15I'm hoping very much that she was.
24:18Well, about five o'clock, I guess the only thing to do was to jump overboard.
24:23I followed the first girl over, and I don't know where she got the courage to jump over.
24:29Well, anyway, I followed her, seeing that she could do it.
24:32I guess I'm lucky to be alive, that's all.
24:35Reports show that over 200 people died in this disaster on September the 8th, 1934,
24:41although it had been suggested in the press at the time that the death toll was nearer 400.
24:49Although it has never actually been determined for definite,
24:52it appeared that the fire was most likely caused by an electrical storm and lightning hitting the ship,
24:59nine miles off the coast of New Jersey.
25:03Still ablaze, from stem to stern, the liner was towed by a United States Coast Guard cutter
25:09and beached off Astbury Park.
25:13Another shipping disaster involving a luxury liner was to occur not far from these waters 22 years later.
25:21Fortunately for most, the death toll was nowhere near so high.
25:30July 26, 1956. The Italian liner Andrea Doria in her death throes.
25:36The final act in what might have been one of the worst sea tragedies of all time.
25:40The proud ship was smashed by the Swedish liner Stockholm in the dense fog south of Nantucket.
25:46The Stockholm stayed afloat, her icebreaker bow smashed, and she limped into port with hundreds of survivors from the Andrea
25:52Doria.
25:53What prevented a major tragedy was the fact that a dozen rescue vessels were in this heavily traveled area, thus
25:59preventing an appalling loss of life.
26:01As it was, 50 died, many killed outright in the crash.
26:07The more seriously injured were flown by helicopter to Nantucket, where they were cared for by medical men who came
26:13from 100 miles away.
26:14Most of the injured were from the Doria. Few aboard the Stockholm were hurt.
26:21Now the end for the $29 million vessel. Eleven hours after the midnight tragedy, the Andrea Doria goes to her
26:28watery grave.
26:33Meanwhile, into New York Harbor steams the Ile de France with 758 survivors after a night of heroic rescue work
26:39in the fog and darkness.
26:40There are happy reunions for families separated during the night. Medical aid was ready at dockside for the injured.
26:48And waiting were anxious friends and relatives who had had no definite word during the long night.
26:53There were joyful reunions as well as hidden tears.
27:05In retrospect, the Andrea Doria Stockholm disaster remains one of the sagas of the sea.
27:11Of 2,760 passengers and crew members on the two ships, only 50 lost their lives.
27:17But what would have happened if the collision had taken place far at sea, no one dared contemplate.
27:22The survivors were grateful for a miracle.
27:3111.30 yesterday morning and the Herald of Free Enterprise left Dover for Zebrugge.
27:37A fateful journey she shouldn't have made.
27:39She was replacing another ferry which is being refitted.
27:43Aboard, the scene was much like this, filmed on her sister ship.
27:47Though only half full, the stricken ferry carried a large number of day-trippers.
27:52More than a hundred had taken up a special offer in the Sun newspaper.
27:56By 9.30 last night, as the day-trippers should have been returning to Dover,
28:01the full horror of the disaster was filtering through to waiting relatives.
28:06Day's staff at the Townsend tourism offices attempted to coordinate what information they had.
28:15All ships in the Dover Strait, this is Dover Coast Guard.
28:18A major rescue operation is taking place close to Zebrugge Harbour.
28:24Vessels are requested to listen out on Channel 16.
28:28Midnight and Dover Coast Guards were warning all ships to keep clear of the damaged ferry.
28:34Please keep a sharp lookout for eventual survivors. Stop.
28:41It was a Friday night, March the 6th, 1987.
28:46The Herald of Free Enterprise had left Zebrugge on return to Dover.
28:51When just three quarters of a mile out of the harbour, she capsized.
28:56Many of those that had been on deck had managed to jump to safety into the sea,
29:00when the ferry capsized and were quickly rescued.
29:05However, there were a great many more below deck at the time,
29:08and divers were immediately on the scene searching for survivors.
29:12Some of whom were trapped in air pockets below the surface.
29:18At the same time, 70 specialist fire officers from Kent Fire Brigade
29:22were leaving RAF Manston with heat-seeking devices to join the rescue attempt.
29:28They included ten divers.
29:36Four hours later, bewildered relatives were desperately trying to get any news they could.
29:43Have you got any information on Barry Allen?
29:45He was a chef on the ship that cast sides yesterday.
29:48For most, the only means was a public telephone call to Zebrugge.
29:53Well, I phoned the hospital and asked if they'd heard anything of my mum and father.
29:59And they've only heard of my mum in hospital, and they haven't heard anything about my dad.
30:04Most of the crew heroically stayed on board the stricken ferry for up to five hours
30:09in an effort to rescue as many of the remaining passengers as possible.
30:15Some going back down as many as six or seven times to try and find those who were trapped below.
30:22They were actually breaking windows with axes, they were sending rope ladders down,
30:27they were going down rope ladders, actually to the water, pulling people out of the water, passing them up.
30:32I mean, that's, you know, when you get out of a hell hole and you go back in, it takes
30:37a lot of doing.
30:39The passengers, I mean, they were screaming, you know, you can imagine, get me out, help me.
30:44So we were putting ropes down, and we dragged a big disembarkation ladder over,
30:51and we pushed that down as well, because we wanted to push that in the water
30:54so that passengers could hold on to it while waiting to be rescued,
30:58because obviously you couldn't get them all out at the one time.
31:01After three hours, we found that seven of us, that was seven of the crew,
31:05couldn't even pull one person up between us.
31:09Our heads wanted to, but your body just wouldn't react.
31:12That's when I left, when there was only five left down there and they were dead.
31:16I asked the divers, the divers said, yeah, they're dead, you go, go.
31:20It wasn't until six weeks after the tragedy had occurred that the Herald of Free Enterprise was eventually lifted to
31:28a degree,
31:29where it would be possible to retrieve the remaining bodies and salvage the wreck.
31:35There were still at least 133 bodies on board the wreckage.
31:46The car decks were a mass of twisted metal.
31:52More than 500 people had been on board the Herald of Free Enterprise the night she capsized,
31:59and their world had been literally turned upside down.
32:05Of these, 193 had lost their lives.
32:15Many of the world's shipping disasters have been as a result of war.
32:20The demise of the Lusitania was one such instance.
32:24These are copies of the only actual pictures in existence
32:28of the passengers arriving at Cunard's Pier in New York on May the 1st, 1915.
32:35They were bound for Europe sailing via Liverpool.
32:39Few of the almost 2,000 passengers arriving seemed concerned about the grim warning from Germany
32:46that had appeared in U.S. newspapers on the morning of her departure.
32:52Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her
32:59allies,
33:00and Great Britain and her allies.
33:03The zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles.
33:08In accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German government,
33:13vessels flying the flag of Great Britain or any of her allies are liable to destruction in those waters.
33:21Travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.
33:28By this time a number of British ships had been sunk by German submarines,
33:33but this famous luxury liner's speed still seemed the best guarantee of safety.
33:39Although a non-combatant, the Lusitania was a British ship flying the British flag,
33:47making her a potential target for German U-boats.
33:51At 10 am the flags were raised indicating the start of her voyage,
33:55and the Lusitania set sail.
33:57the Tesis of the Isles are now and how it came to Moscow.anche
33:59are josé. us.
34:24and that차
34:25is now. To set up
34:45One thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine were on board, including one hundred and twenty-three
34:51Americans.
34:53Six days later, the Lusitania was to mark the end of any delusions that the British or
34:57American governments may have had, that the civilized manners of nineteenth-century warfare
35:04could survive into the twentieth century.
35:08On May the seventh, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a U-boat.
35:14Eighteen minutes later, she sank to the bottom of the Atlantic, and one thousand one hundred
35:19and ninety-five souls perished.
35:30Abavan will be remembered not only for the lost generation, entombed by the moving mountain.
35:35It will be remembered as a fearful lesson for the future.
35:38It will also be remembered for the almost superhuman response that engineered a vast army of volunteers
35:44to work without rest or pause, day and night, in a frantic rescue attempt.
36:00But as the hours passed, so did hope for the remaining children and teachers.
36:06Sixteen houses shared the fate of the school.
36:09Over thirty people were believed to be inside.
36:12One hundred and thirteen children died at Abavan that day, along with sixteen teachers.
36:24A tornado is a writhing funnel of rapidly spinning air that descends to the ground from the base of a
36:32large thundercloud.
36:34At the heart is a low-pressure vortex which sucks up anything in its path.
36:41Ferocious winds blow about this vortex at up to five hundred kilometers per hour, and are capable of sucking houses
36:49off their foundations.
36:53The state of Kansas, in the United States of America, lies along what is known as Tornado Alley,
37:00and is the most tornado-prone region on this Earth.
37:09When heavy rainstorms broke out in the 1960s, such as here in the Midwest of the United States,
37:16forty centimeters of rain was unleashed in less than two days.
37:21When that rain continued and the ground became waterlogged, there was nowhere else for it to go.
37:26Rivers burst to their banks, and the dam at the head of the valley was also breached by the excessive
37:31water flow.
37:34Over one hundred houses were submerged as the floods poured through the valley.
37:40Broken power lines caused many of the houses to catch fire.
37:45Well, Friday morning we were awoken at five o'clock in the morning and told to evacuate,
37:50then we had only about two, three hours to get out.
37:54So we just took a suitcase with the clothes for the children.
37:59And within five minutes we were out of the house, my wife, my child, years old, my son and myself.
38:05Got in one of our cars and drove off to a motel where we thought we'd spend the day listening
38:10to the newscast,
38:11fully expecting to spend that night sleeping in our own beds.
38:15And we learned later on that the height of water in this area breached in my home, I estimate a
38:20height of 18 feet,
38:21totally covering the house, all except perhaps two or three feet of the attic.
38:25We prepared to die because we knew this was it, debris hit the house, we heard it, we thought the
38:31foundation was giving.
38:34And we explained to the boys how it was to drown and we prayed, that's all we did.
38:41Mother Nature is an abusive parent.
38:45She strikes unpredictably.
38:47And the blows can come from anywhere, at any time.
38:53Tornadoes and floods are devastating enough.
38:55But there is nothing more terrifying than when the ground begins to shake and tear apart in an earthquake.
39:05Well over 10,000 earthquakes are reported each year throughout the world.
39:11The state of California being one of the many recipients.
39:16Over the last century, earthquakes have claimed the lives of over one million people.
39:21They have hardened victims.
39:28The��도록 has claimed the Show for hormones back in
39:29a land and more and we can support in the house.
39:34George láng and his head jackping for a flight.
39:38Good morning.Uh...
39:48Pt.
39:51There she comes tonight.
39:53That's my mother.
39:56I don't want to go back.
39:58It's about seven foot in there.
39:59If the light comes in, we can still see.
40:03That's okay.
40:04Come on.
40:05Yeah.
40:07Here's your daughter, honey.
40:09Here's your daughter, Ellen.
40:11Sit down now.
40:12Just bend your knees slowly.
40:16Where's Heidi?
40:17Heidi's with Jim.
40:19No, he took her with her and the dogs are down in that order.
40:24Okay.
40:25It's all right.
40:27It's okay.
40:32In some earthquakes, building collapse is not the main cause of death or injury.
40:38Only the trigger.
40:39After the great Kanto earthquake struck Japan in 1923,
40:44fires began to sweep through the city
40:46minutes after the shockwaves had toppled houses,
40:50killing thousands of victims.
40:51A staggering 30,000 people were killed in one instance alone when they fled to a park
40:59for refuge.
41:00Many of the fires were started when charcoal braziers, which had just been lit to cook lunch,
41:06overturned.
41:07Fueled by high winds, the fires swept through vast areas of Tokyo and the neighboring port of Yokohama,
41:14incinerating half a million homes.
41:16In all, 143,000 people died during the earthquake, most of them by fire.
41:22The 7.2-magnitude earthquake which struck Kobe in Japan on the 17th of January 1995 was the most powerful
41:32earthquake ever to strike a modern city.
41:3520 seconds of shaking destroyed much of Kobe and caused widespread damage to surrounding areas.
41:43However, when the power which had been switched off was turned back on again to aid rescue workers,
41:50massive fires broke out all over the city when sparks ignited broken gas mains.
41:556,310 people were killed in the fires and another 43,000 were injured.
42:05The 6th of July, 1988.
42:07More information on the soil rig explosion.
42:10It's Piper Alpha.
42:11There has been an explosion.
42:13They're abandoning and they're out in the lifeboats.
42:16Aberdeen Coast Guard would like you to proceed to the Piper Alpha.
42:19Yeah.
42:20And if you can talk to them en route, the situation's a bit unclear at the moment.
42:27They've no idea how many people are involved or anything.
42:30Yeah, roughly how many people.
42:31No idea.
42:44Mayday.
42:45Explosion and fire on the Piper platform.
42:48All personnel abandoned.
42:51Elder rescue, rescue, 1.8 is on.
42:532, 1, 3, 8.
42:54This is Lumber rescue, roger, on scene, out.
42:58Bloody hell, it's really on fire, isn't it?
43:00Yeah, they've got first fire already.
43:0201 Tharos, the situation is that the platform is completely on fire from sea level to top.
43:11We have, in fact, pulled back somewhat.
43:14The structure is collapsing and it is total fire.
43:21We are continuing to spray water on it.
43:24One of the standby vessels has reported having 25 casualties, which includes three serious burns and one injury.
43:33We wish to get rid of our non-essentials so that we can handle these casualties when we bring them
43:39on board.
43:40Rescue, 0, 1, Cavi.
43:43Rescue, 1, 3, 8, the Faros.
43:45We wish you to collect 12 passengers first and proceed then to Ocean Victory to collect paramedics.
43:51OK, they want us to go to Faros, pick up at our 12, then go to Ocean Victory, which is
43:58250, 9.5 miles from our present position.
44:03Can you see them on radar?
44:05Because I have difficulty seeing things in all this flaring light at the front.
44:08OK, we're back on radar.
44:10If you could stay on radar, I'll pass.
44:12Yeah, very close.
44:12It's a lovely ride, isn't it?
44:14Right, so there she goes.
44:16It's certainly collapsing.
44:23All right, Ross.
44:24Rescue, 1, 3, 8, oh, we cleared to close and land on your heli deck.
44:28Rescue, 1, 3, 8, that is correct.
44:31OK, we're all cleared for it, Ross.
44:33OK, cleared to close.
44:36Good, coming down.
44:38Are you going to bring them into the front or the back?
44:40Through the back is quicker.
44:42OK, forward 4, forward 3, forward 2, 1,
44:46Steady, clear below, 2 on the tail, 1 on the tail, tail is on, lanes are on.
44:52Ready to get them in.
44:54Thank you, 1, 3, 8, confirm you have no more passengers at the moment?
44:57That is correct.
44:59OK, 1, up, lift 12.
45:01Get the whole trap down.
45:04OK, anything's over 3, 2, ready?
45:06Left him to the hover.
45:07OK.
45:08Yeah, Rescue, 0, 1, Therese.
45:10Just to advise you on the vessel's intent, we are going to try and move back toward the platform to
45:17endeavor to keep things cool and to hopefully prevent some of the underwater explosions that we're frightened of.
45:25No, it's Yankee Bravo.
45:26You've probably been told the risers have obviously broken and the oil is now coming straight up onto the sea.
45:32And in fact, the sea is burning as well.
45:38Motion victory, then.
45:39We'll take you out, maybe.
45:41We'll come here.
45:42We'll come here.
45:43We'll come here.
45:44Oh, 1, 2, 3, let's do 4.
45:48All right, we have 1, 2, 3, 4.
45:50Ferros Rescue 138, airborne promotion, victory with four paramedics on board, ETA Ferros Vickers-Bopp.
45:58Oh, it's really going out.
46:00Bloody hell.
46:05Gee, it's a bit hot on this side.
46:07Oh, good.
46:08Feels like wind there.
46:12Bloody hell, it's really on fire, isn't it?
46:14Yeah, it's a big one.
46:16Oh, clear forward and down.
46:18Okay.
46:19My oh my, she's really boiling it.
46:21Escape is right.
46:23Ferros Rescue, Ferros Rescue.
46:25Ferros forward, 23, descending.
46:27Is the crane on the left?
46:30Yeah, I can see that.
46:3114, descending.
46:32Clear out.
46:33Clear out, yes.
46:35Rescue 138, I have made contact with the vessel Silver Pit, who now has 30-some casualties,
46:42including some injured, check the feasibility of commencing the winch recovery of those people to me.
46:49Yeah.
46:50He's moving closer to Tharos.
46:52He is a converted fishing vessel with a small landing area.
46:58Okay, how many can we take?
47:00Uh, 12, 14, 14.
47:02How many does this?
47:0430.
47:07The height is good.
47:09Little of the day.
47:21There were 227 men on Piper Alpha that night, when the two explosions ripped through the rig.
47:30The flames reached 500 feet high.
47:34The only chance of survival was to jump 200 feet into the sea, which was ablaze with burning oil.
47:42Of those 227 men, only 67 lived to see another day.
47:57On the 26th of April, 1986, a massive explosion blew the roof off the Chernobyl nuclear reactor.
48:05Fires broke out, which sent up huge amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere.
48:11The attempted clean-up operation was a very dangerous job, with workers having to wear protective clothing and only being
48:18able to work for less than two minutes at a time.
48:21All of these workers died.
48:25This was the worst accident in the history of nuclear power, and was a disaster which could have been avoided.
48:36Another disaster, which was successfully avoided, occurred in April 1970.
48:43Ignition flight.
48:44Roger.
48:48Roger.
48:49Clock to start, flight.
48:50Roger.
48:51Press this door, all engines.
48:52Roger.
48:53Okay, Fado, how's it look?
48:54Looks good here, flight, good agreement.
48:56Okay, Lusa, how do you look?
48:58That's what we see, looks good, flight.
48:59Okay, Capcom, we go, we're on the ground.
49:01We're go, flight, looks good here.
49:03Guys, how's it look?
49:03Good, flight?
49:04Okay, Econ, GNC.
49:06Looks good, flight.
49:06Looks good, flight.
49:07Okay, Sergeant.
49:08Looks fine.
49:10Staging flight.
49:11Roger.
49:12Flight 5, a trajectory confirmed staging.
49:15Roger.
49:21Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.
49:24Flight guidance.
49:25Go guidance.
49:26We've had a hardware restart.
49:27I don't know what it was.
49:28Okay.
49:29Houston, we've had a problem.
49:31We've had a main B bus undervolt.
49:33You see an AC bus undervolt there, guidance?
49:35Or, uh, Econ?
49:37Negative flight.
49:38I believe the crew reported it.
49:40We've got a main B undervolt.
49:41We may have had an instrumentation problem, flight.
49:43Roger.
49:44And we had a pretty large bang associated with the caution and warning there.
49:49At the moment, the astronauts are continuing to try to isolate their trouble.
49:53A late report says the spacecraft now is operating on battery power alone.
49:56All unnecessary equipment is being turned off.
50:00Okay, now let's everybody keep cool.
50:02We've got a limb still attached.
50:04The limb spacecraft's good.
50:06So if we need to get back home, we've got a limb to do a good portion of it with.
50:11So we're in good shape if we need to get home.
50:13Let's solve the problem, but let's not make it any worse by guessing.
50:18Two days after it had been launched, an oxygen tank of Apollo 13's electrical power supply had exploded in the
50:26service module.
50:28Astronauts Lovell, Hayes and Swigert, having turned off all systems to preserve what power they had left in Apollo 13's
50:35batteries, faced the harrowing prospect of slow suffocation with only a small reserve of oxygen in the lunar module.
50:45A rescue plan was hatched.
50:48They would risk what power they had left to fire the engines of the lunar module Aquarius to accelerate the
50:56crippled spacecraft Odyssey around the moon and hasten its return to Earth.
51:02In theory, the plan to use the Aquarius as a lifeboat was sound.
51:07But it had never been done before, and the lives of the three astronauts was dependent on its success.
51:16Your astronauts will come back safe.
51:20If I may be serious for one moment and ask the entire audience for a moment of prayer for the
51:32crewmen of the Apollo 13.
51:35We'll hold silence for a moment, please.
51:38The spacecraft had by now completed its orbit of the moon and was attempting a re-entry into the Earth's
51:44atmosphere.
51:46During this procedure, there is no radio contact with the capsule.
51:49And throughout the world, people held their breath in hope.
51:58Minutes later, Mission Control received the following signal.
52:02Odyssey Houston standing by, over.
52:06OK, go.
52:12Odyssey Houston, we show you on the mains. It really looks great.
52:16Odyssey, over.
52:19Apollo 13, this is recovery, over.
52:24Air flight 2-5-7.
52:26Roger, Apollo 13, this is recovery, and your chutes look good.
52:50January 28th, 1986.
52:52In January 1986, the Challenger Space Shuttle was seconds away from its tenth launch.
52:59At T-minus 7 minutes and 30 seconds, the ground launch sequencer began retracting the crew access arm.
53:06The arm can be put back in place within 15 to 20 seconds if an emergency arises and the crew
53:12must evacuate the pad.
53:16At T-minus 2 minutes and 55 seconds, external tank liquid oxygen pressurization began and main engine purging was completed.
53:24At T-minus 2 minutes and 50 seconds, retraction of the gaseous oxygen vent hood began.
53:30The ground launch sequencer verified its full retraction at T-minus 37 seconds.
53:40Sound suppression water was started at T-minus 16 seconds.
53:45We have ignition sequence start.
53:486.6 seconds before launch, Challenger's liquid-fueled main engines were ignited in sequence and run up to full thrust.
53:55Launch commit.
54:03Thrust from the main engines bends the shuttle stack.
54:07When it returned to vertical, the solid rocket boosters ignited.
54:11At T-zero, the hold-down bolts were explosively released.
54:15Liftoff.
54:16We have liftoff.
54:17After the initial pre-release twang motion, structural forces on the assembly are dissipated through vibration at a rate of
54:243 cycles per second during the first few seconds of flight.
54:33Roll maneuver was initiated at 7.724 seconds.
54:48The main engines were throttled back to 65% at 35.379 seconds for about 16 seconds in order to
54:59alleviate loads during maximum dynamic pressure.
55:04Velocity 2,257 feet per second, altitude 4.3 nautical miles, downrange distance.
55:09The engines were then throttled up to 104% at 51.919 seconds.
55:17Challenger, go and throttle up.
55:19During the flight, telemetry data gave no indication of problems.
55:3172 seconds after lifting off from the pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida, Challenger exploded in a ball of flames.
55:42Witnessed by thousands of spectators, including the astronauts' own families and friends, millions of television viewers worldwide,
55:53all seven astronauts on board lost their lives in what was the worst disaster in the history of the U
56:00.S. space program.
56:04It was just an accident that happened.
56:07We just couldn't think that we would have another tragedy like this.
56:15The fires were breaking out in front of me, behind me.
56:17And I was starting to... I was frightened.
56:21Three hours later, one of the... one of the... both picked me up.
56:28I still don't know whether she has been rescued or not.
56:33I'm hoping very much that she was.
56:36I guess I'm lucky to be alive, that's all.
56:40Please keep a sharp lookout for eventual survivors. Stop.
56:47When you get out of a hellhole and you go back in, it takes a lot of doing.
56:52Mayday. Explosion of fire on the Piper platform.
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