 The suburb of Roombeek on fire | |
| Date | 13 May 2000 |
|---|---|
| Time | c. 15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00) |
| Location | Enschede, Netherlands |
| Coordinates | 52°13′49″N 6°53′36″E / 52.23028°N 6.89333°E |
| Type | Fireworks disaster |
| Deaths | 23 (22 directly, 1 indirectly)[1] |
| Non-fatal injuries | 950 |
| Property damage |
|
The Enschede fireworks disaster was a catastrophic fireworks explosion on 13 May 2000 in Enschede, Netherlands.[2] The explosion killed 23[a] people including four firefighters and injured 950 others.[3][4] A total of 400 homes were destroyed and 1,500 buildings were subsequently damaged.
The first explosion had a strength in the order of 0.8 tons of TNT (3.3 GJ), while the strength of the final explosion was in the range of 4–5 tons of TNT (17–21 GJ).[5] The biggest blast was felt as far as the city of Deventer, 60 kilometres (40 mi) away. Fire crews were called in from across the border in Germany to help battle the blaze; it was brought under control by the end of the day.
S.E. Fireworks was a major supplier to pop concerts and major festive events in the Netherlands. Prior to the disaster it had a good safety record and met all safety audits.[6]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Dutch fireworks disaster". BBC News. 13 May 2000. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
- ^ "Firework Disaster Enschede 13 May 2000". huisvanverhalenenschede.nl. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- ^ "Government cover-up alleged in fireworks disaster that killed 23, injured 950 | NL Times". nltimes.nl. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ T. Bedford, P. H. A. J. M. van Gelder, 2003, "Safety and reliability: proceedings of the ESREL 2003 European safety and reliability conference", p.1688
- ^ Castle, Stephen (15 May 2000). "After 400 homes and 15 streets are incinerated by firework blast, the Dutch ask: Was it arson?". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 May 2010.[dead link]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).