Accidents and disasters news and stories by mail.com

Accidents and disasters

Victims jockey to maximize refunds in PFGBest case
The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of an Iowa brokerage is facing an unusual decision about how to distribute its remaining assets: Should customers ...
Brazil nightclub owner blames country for fire
The owner of a nightclub in southern Brazil where more than 230 people died in a fire last weekend deflected blame to "the whole country," as well as ...
Ten years since loss of space shuttle Columbia
He was just 8 when NASA lost the space shuttle Columbia and he lost his astronaut mom. Now, 10 years later, Iain Clark is a young man on the cusp of ...
Operator, contractor cited in NYC crane collapse
A crane operator and a contractor didn't inspect equipment, failed to take proper precautions and ran the rig unsafely before it collapsed while ...
Blast at sorcerer's house caused by explosives
Police in Zimbabwe said Wednesday they found traces of explosives at a tribal sorcerer's house where a massive blast killed six people and damaged 12 ...
Toyota recalls 1.29M vehicles for air bags, wipers
Toyota is recalling over one million cars around the world for faulty air bags and defective windshield wipers. The move comes just days after Toyota ...
1 dead as vast storm rakes South, Midwest
A large storm system packing high winds, hail and at least one tornado tore across a wide swath of the South and Midwest on Wednesday, killing one ...
Flood waters recede in Mozambique
Flood waters have begun receding in Mozambique, and residents have started returning to the worst-hit city. The United Nations Resident Coordinator ...
White House: Sandy to blame for lack of growth
The White House says Superstorm Sandy is partially to blame for the unexpected contraction of the U.S. economy. Top White House economist Alan Krueger ...
Dutch court rejects most of Shell spill case
A Dutch court has ruled that a subsidiary of international oil giant Royal Dutch Shell should be held responsible for a pipeline leak poisoning ...
Kenya gov't issues stern warning to int'l media
Kenya's government spokesman appeared to make a veiled threat against international journalists while announcing a tough stance on information deemed ...
Next in BP spill saga: civil trial worth billions
Now that a $4 billion plea deal has resolved BP's criminal liability for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill nearly three years ago, the company will ...
Australians clean up from floods; supplies dwindle
Military personnel headed to flood-ravaged northeast Australia on Wednesday to help clean up the sludgy aftermath of floods that damaged thousands of ...
Tremors, gases will be best proof of NK nuke test
With North Korea appearing set to detonate an atomic device, the U.N. agency that detected two previous tests says it is prepared to confirm an ...
Snowmobiler in critical condition after Winter X
Snowmobiler Caleb Moore was in critical condition Tuesday in a Colorado hospital after a dramatic crash at the Winter X Games in Aspen, and a relative ...
Brazil police: Outdoor flare started club fire
Penny-pinching by a band known for its onstage pyrotechnic displays may have cost more than 230 people their lives at a nightclub in southern Brazil, ...
Santa Maria mourns its dead, calls for justice
The young law student sat alone in a pew, clutching a shirt on which she'd written the names of friends she'd lost in a weekend nightclub fire in this ...
Egypt army chief warns state could collapse
Residents of this Mediterranean coastal city burying their dead from Egypt's wave of political violence vented their fury at Egypt's Islamist ...
A look at fallout from nightclub fires
Investigators are determining the causes of a nightclub fire that killed at least 234 people in southern Brazil early Sunday, with criminal charges ...
3 months after Sandy, victims waiting for relief
Devon Lawrence neatly stacked bricks on the gas burner of his kitchen stove and turned up the blue flame, creating a sort of radiator that warmed the ...
Judge OKs $4B BP oil spill criminal settlement
BP PLC closed the book on the Justice Department's criminal probe of its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Gulf oil spill Tuesday, when a ...
NJ man in Hudson plane crash called wife, then 911
A man who was plucked from a plane crash in the icy Hudson River said Tuesday that he wasn't sure he'd survive, and he'd contacted 911 only after ...
Humble nickel from 1913 likely to fetch millions
A humble 5-cent coin with a storied past is headed to auction and bidding is expected to top $2 million a century after it was mysteriously minted.
Egypt cruise ship runs aground, all aboard safe
Egyptian police officials say a cruise ship has run aground on the Nile River near the southern city of Aswan, but all 120 people aboard survived.
UN: Mozambique floods displace 150k, leave 38 dead
A U.N. official in flood-hit Mozambique says at least $15 million in aid is needed to help after flood waters have killed 38 people and displaced ...