The Buncefield Explosion
Added 2024-03-05 11:15:01 +0000 UTCI’m old enough to have a clear memory of this accident, which was a pretty big news story all over the UK. There had, I recall, quite recently been a terrorist attack in London, and so people were very much on high alert. When the news first broke, many commentators were convinced that it was another deliberate bombing.
Another thing I remember quite distinctly are the stories about people heading towards the fire to film it. This was 2005, and so phone cameras were still a novelty. It was one of the first times, in the UK at least, when the desire to get a picture actually drew people towards a major disaster.
This was made worse by the BBC requesting that people in the area take pictures of the fires. This request prompted a flood of images from the public… including some taken from very dangerous vantage points. From that point on, the BBC changed its policy. Now, rather than asking people to take pictures, they’re careful to only ask for pictures that people already happen to have, and to avoid encouraging anyone to approach a disaster zone. A sensible move, I think!
Comments
It's a pretty good example of them being kind of proactive - nobody was killed this time, and they took the opportunity to minimise the risk even more next time. Though, like you say, big disasters do still tend to draw people to the area...
Fascinating Horror
2024-03-11 18:19:18 +0000 UTCThat's a very interesting and unusual incident. Glad nobody died - and it's wild to think that so much disruptions stemmed from one worker with an infected wound on his hand. Will add it to the list!
Fascinating Horror
2024-03-11 18:09:14 +0000 UTCHow about a video on the Japan Air Lines food poisoning incident? It happened in 1975 when the passengers of a Japan Airlines flight were given breakfast omelets to eat that had accidentally been contaminated with Staphylococcus bacteria. 196 passengers and 1 flight attendant got so sick from the contaminated food that 144 of them had to be hospitalized when they arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark. Thankfully no one died from the contamination, but it was still a very unpleasant situation for everyone involved. I first found out about this incident after coming across a video by Brew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cW1xRV9LDk Here's the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Air_Lines_food_poisoning_incident
Michael Rutherford
2024-03-05 19:14:49 +0000 UTCGlad the BBC changed its policy. Some people just can't stay away from disasters though.
Kathryn Clark
2024-03-05 19:04:26 +0000 UTC
