Obscure disasters iceberg

Obscure disasters iceberg is an iceberg chart topic. A text version, "Obscure and Forgotten Disasters" by Goat_Lord, is hosted on IcebergThreads, where it had 938 views as of 29 October 2026.

The IcebergThreads author describes it as: "Very WIP. If an entry doesn't have a description right now, it will in the future. Looking for suggestions. I am pretty picky about what goes on here, so if I reject your suggestion, please don't take it as an insult :')"

Entries reflect the chart authors' choices and are not verified fact.

Tiers

Tiers and entries from the IcebergThreads version. Notes after a dash are shortened from the author's explanations.

Generally Forgotten - Dedicated Researchers Might Know These

This category covers disasters which remain largely obscure outside of a specific niche. Seasoned researchers of a topic may see these disasters as common knowledge, while most have likely never heard of them.

• SNAP-9A accident (1964)
• Dakar Rally deaths (1988) – During the 1988 Dakar Rally, seven people were directly killed. Four spectators and pedestrians, including a 10-year-old Malian girl named Baye Sibi, were killed, three directly by vehicles. Three…
• Ping Shin 101 killings (2012)
• Beaune coach crash (1982)
• Juba Bar shooting (2016)
• Joelma Building fire (1974)
• MV Salem Express sinking (1991)
• San Pablito fireworks market explosion (2016)
• Okeechobee hurricane (1928)
• Maguindanao massacre (2009)
• Uiryeong massacre (1982)

Only Obscure Because of Language Barrier

Often times when a disaster occurs in a region outside of the scope of Western media, it's up to native media to properly report on and document these events. Because of this, events in non-English speaking countries will often go largely forgotten to those around the world.

• Cromañón Nightclub fire (2004)
• Vargas tragedy (1999)
• Hokutan Yubari gas leak (1981)
• Gërdec ammunition explosions (2008)
• Athens-Lamia Porsche explosion (2017)
• Qaraqosh wedding fire (2023)
• Busan shooting range fire (2009) – NATIVE NAME: 2009년 부산 실내사격장 화재 사고
• Tenroku gas explosion (1970) – Native Name: 1970年 天六ガス爆発事故

Region Locked Disasters

Typically occurring in third world countries, these events are only obscure because of where they happened. Although they may be well remembered and memorialized by the locals, or even well known within the country in which they happened, the rest of the world leaves these disasters to the past.…

• Sinking of MV Le Joola (2002) – Although the disaster remains well known and remembered in Senegal, the 2002 sinking of the overcrowded Le Joola passenger ferry remains largely unknown to the rest of the world. 1,864 people are…
• Arch Cot Terrace tragedy (2007)
• Phnom Penh stampede (2010)
• Mitsui Miike Mikawa coal mine explosion (1963)
• BR-227 Ethanol tanker crash (2016)
• Tokyo mid-air collision (1938)
• Arkhangai tornado (2014) – Khangai
• Durunka/Dronka lightning disaster (1994)
• Vila Socó disaster (1984)
• Cyclone Gafilo (2004)
• Sinking of Bateau Mouche IV (1988)
• Fire of Szatmárököritó (1910)
• Sinking of TSS Taiping (1949)
• Shunkaiza Theater collapse (1938) – Native Name: 1938年 十日町映画館崩壊事故
• Shizuoka Station gas explosion (1980)

Overshadowed By Other News

These disasters were quickly forgotten about because of other events around the world. Reporting on a disaster doesn't even have to be entirely drowned out by a larger event, but sometimes even the aftermath and investigations into a disaster being overshadowed can lead to it rapidly fading from…

• Myojo 56 Building fire (2001) – 9/01/01. 44 killed, 3 injured. Suspected arson attack on Japanese office building, perpetrator was never caught nor identified. News on the fire and aftermath mostly drowned out by 9/11 ten days…
• Zug Parliament massacre (2001)
• Washington D.C. Metro accident (1982) – 01/13/1982 3 killed, 25 injured A train derailed between Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations. The accident happened just 30 minutes after Air Florida flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street…
• Sacramento shooting spree (2001) – 9/08 - 9/10/2001. 6 killed, 3 injured. News completely drowned out by 9/11.
• Sinking of USS Jeannette (1881) – Overshadowed by news of the assassination attempt on president James A. Garfield.
• Ufa train disaster (1989) – Overshadowed by the coverage of the Tiananmen Square massacres

Severely Underreported

• Aki shooting (1975)
• Ankara massacre (1938)
• Denmark Place fire (1980)
• al-Qahtaniyah bombings (2007)
• Zoungoldak rabies attack (1933)
• Antônio Prado tornado (2003) – On december, 13th, 2003 a tornado in the small town of Antônio Prado in the Serra Gaúcha region of Rio Grande do Sul caused the collapse of a school roof and the death of five. Four children who were…
• Manica Tribal Trust Lands lightning strike (1975)
• Hornalan massacre (2008)
• Chatkyi train disaster (2012)
• Panama City radiotherapy accident (2000-2001)
• Assamaka truck incident (2026)
• Alma-Ata mudflow disaster (1921)
• Ann Street gas explosion (1970)

Deliberately Covered Up

• Szczecin parade disaster (1962)
• Massacre of the 11th Parallel (1963)
• Okinawa railway ammunition explosion (1944)
• Tragedy of Gate 12 (1968)
• Sinking of HMT/RMS Lancastria (1940)
• Explosion of Río Tercero ammunition factory (1995)
• Mailuu-Suu tailings dam failure (1958)

Lost to the Sands of Time

• Eitai Bridge collapse (1807)
• Kamli Theatre fire (1893)
• SS Montreal fire (1857)
• Roopkund avalanches (800 & 1800)
• Puputan of Badung (1906)

Did This Even Happen?

• Chengde truck attack (1983) – 07/12/1983 21 killed, 29 injured. A disgruntled coal miner named Li Baoping, apparently dissatisfied with management at the mine, drove a cement-filled cargo truck into a crowd of his coworkers as…
• Bébédjia tornado (2007)
• Goroumo massacre (2008) – Goroumo massacre (2008)
• Sea of Blood plane crash (1972)
• Sinking of SS Ourang Medan (1940)
• Joensuu tornado (2004)
• Explosion over Quixadá (1958)
• Makahali River bridge collapse (1974)

Most Likely/Confirmed Hoaxes

This category contains entries which are either almost certainly fabrications, or outright confirmed hoaxes. These could be urban legends and tales more than a century old, newspaper articles made to stir up talk during a time when media professionalism wasn't taken seriously, or just some fun…

• Olinda massacre (1952) – Confirmed as a hoax, all article links cited on the deleted Wikipedia article were dead, and no matching titles were found in the cited newspaper's archives. In January of 1952, a mass shooting took…
• Ugandan giant spider attack (1890) – Likely hoax, although the plausibility of J'ba Fofi's existence is debated in Cryptozoology, this encounter was only ever described in a book published as a work of fiction. Two missionaries were…
• 2006 Volleyball Incident – (I mean is this really obscure at this point?) DATE: September 27, 2006 DEATHS: 17-24 INJURIES: Unknown LOCATION: South Dakota COUNTRY: United States of America The 2006 Volleyball incident is an…
• Yang Hotel massacre
• Uiryeong nightclub fire (1982)
• Collapse of the Seattle Space Needle (1989)
• Staten Island ferry disaster (1963)
• Central Park Zoo massacre (1874)
• Chicago Dinosaur Invasion (1906)

Nightmares in Mother Russia

• Kursha-2 fire (1936)
• Khankala Mi-26 crash (2002)
• Buran Hangar 112 roof collapse (2002)
• Soviet Union tornado outbreak (1984)
• Kandalaksha Lighthouse incident (2001)
• Soviet K-19 submarine accident (1961)
• Mozdok military hospital bombing (2003)
• Aleksandr Suvorov bridge strike (1983)

What Happens in China Stays in China

• Qitaihe bombing (1979)
• Zhaike village massacre (2024)
• Shijiazhuang bombings (2001)
• Qinghe Special Steel incident (2007)
• SS Kiangya disaster (1948)
• Benxihu Colliery disaster (1942)
• Intelsat 708 launch failure (1996) – Intelsat 708, a telecommunications satellite constructed by the American company Space Systems/Loral was destroyed on 15 February 1996, when the Long March 3B carrier rocket failed during its launch…
• Shengangzhai truck explosion (2005)
• Chongqing "9.2" Waterfront fire (1949)
• Sanlian radiation incident (1963)

Kim Jong-un's Sunday Activities

• Ryongchŏn train disaster (2004) – DATE: 04/22/2004. DEATHS: 153-3,000+ INJURIES: 6,000+ Just a few hours after Kim Jong-il's express train passed through the town of Ryongchŏn, near the Chinese border, two freight trains carrying…
• Dancheon rail disaster (1998)
• Dancheon rail disaster (2023)
• Gaegogae train disaster (1996)
• P'yŏngch'ŏn-Guyŏk building collapse (2014)
• Ryanggang explosion (2004)
• North Hwanghae bus disaster (2018)
• Hyesan pagoda apartment collapse (2007)
• Kanggye munitions factory explosion (1991)
• Pyongsong apartment collapse (2014)
• Okryugyo bus crash (2003) – DATE: 12/22/2003 NATIVE NAME: 2003년 옥류교 버스 추락사건
• Yeseong River bridge collapse (1988)

See also

• Iceberg chart
• Aviation disasters and incidents iceberg
• Military accidents and incidents iceberg

Sources

• IcebergThreads version: Goat_Lord. Obscure and Forgotten Disasters. IcebergThreads. 29 September 2026. Retrieved 29 October 2026.