1997 World Disaster

World aerospace, fire and explosion, marine, mine, natural, rail, traffic and miscellaneous disaster.

1997: Disasters

Some of the major disasters that occurred during 1997 follow.

AEROSPACE

1. 1.      Jan. 9, Michigan: All 29 people on board died when a Comair commuter plane, an Embraer 120 twin-engined turboprop en route from Cincinnati to Detroit, crashed in a field outside of Monroe.
   2.      Feb. 2, Angola: An Angolan Air Force Casa 212 crashed in Bengo Province, killing all 37 people who were on board.
   3.      Feb. 4, Israel: Two military transport helicopters collided over Shaar Yishuv in northern Israel, killing all 73 soldiers, including eight crew members, on board.
   4.      Mar. 13, Iran: An Iranian C-130 Hercules military transport plane crashed west of Mashhad, killing all 88 people who were on board; the passengers were all military personnel and family members.
   5.      Mar. 18, Russia: All 50 people on board died when a chartered airliner, a twin-engined Antonov 24RV turboprop, crashed near the town of Cherkesk in the northern Caucasus.
   6.      May 8, China: A China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on landing in bad weather at Shenzhen; of the 74 people aboard, 35 were killed, many of them Thai tourists.
   7.      July 11, Cuba: A Soviet-made Cubana de Aviacion plane, an Antonov 24RV, plunged into the Caribbean Sea near Santiago de Cuba, killing all 44 people on board.
   8.      Aug. 6, Guam: A Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 crashed into a hillside while attempting to land in Agana during a nighttime storm; 228 of the 254 people who were on board the plane perished.
   9.      Sept. 3, Cambodia: A Vietnam Airlines Tupolev-134B crashed while attempting to land in heavy rain near Phnom Penh; 64 of the 66 people on board were killed.
   10.  Sept. 13, Angola: A U.S. Air Force C-141 collided with a German Army Tupolev-154 off the Atlantic coast, killing all 33 people on board the two planes.
   11.  Sept. 17, Bosnia-Hercegovina: Twelve people, including senior German diplomat Gerd Wagner, died when a UN peacekeeping helicopter crashed into a mountain.
   12.  Sept. 26, Indonesia: A Garuda Airlines Airbus A300 crashed while trying to land in Medan amid smoke from hundreds of forest fires in the region; all 234 people on board the plane perished.
   13.  Oct. 10, Uruguay: An Austral Airlines DC-9 went down in a severe storm near the Argentine border, killing all 74 passengers and crew.
   14.  Dec. 6, Russia: A Russian military Antonov 124 cargo plane killed at least 69 people when it stalled and crashed into several buildings shortly after takeoff in Irkutsk, Siberia.
   15.  Dec. 15, United Arab Emirates: A Tajikavia Tupolev-154 crashed near the Sharja airport, killing 85 of the 86 people on board.
   16.  Dec. 17, Greece: All 70 people on board a Ukrainian Aerosvit Yak-42 were killed when the plane crashed into a mountain in northern Greece.
   17.  Dec. 19, Indonesia: A Silk Air Boeing 737-300 plunged into the Musi River in Sumatra, killing all 104 passengers and crew.

   FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

   18.  Jan. 29, China: A fire swept through a hotel in Changsha, Hunan Province, killing 39 people.
   19.  Feb. 23, India: A fire destroyed a crowded complex of straw-and-thatch structures outside Baripada during a Hindu festival; approximately 200 people died in the blaze.
   20.  Mar. 19, Afghanistan: A munitions dump exploded in Jalalabad, killing more than 30 people and injuring hundreds.
   21.  Apr. 15, Saudi Arabia: At least 343 Muslims making a religious pilgrimage to Mecca perished when a fire broke out in a camp at Mina. More than 1,500 people were injured and 70,000 tents were destroyed by the fire, which began when a gas canister exploded.
   22.  Apr. 29, Albania: In a village about 50 miles north of Tirana, ammunition stored in a tunnel exploded, killing at least 27 people (many of them children), who had entered the tunnel to loot it for scrap metal.
   23.  May 23, Indonesia: Amid continuing preelection violence, over 120 people died during a riot in Banjarmasin, Borneo, when the shopping center they were looting caught fire.
   24.  June 7, India: A fire in an 11th-century Hindu temple in Thanjavur started a stampede; at least 40 people were burned or trampled to death.
   25.  June 13, India: At least 57 people perished when a fire broke out in a crowded movie theater in New Delhi; many of the deaths were due to the resulting stampede.
   26.  July 11, Thailand: Leaking gas containers caused the worst hotel fire in Thailand's history, destroying a seaside resort in Pattaya and killing at least 90 people.
   27.  Sept. 6, Morocco: A fire that was caused by a short circuit swept through a wing of a Casablanca prison, killing 28 inmates.
   28.  Sept. 14, India: More than 50 people died when a fire triggered massive explosions in an oil refinery in Vishakhapatnam.
   29.  Sept. 24, Pakistan: An explosion at an ammunition dump claimed at least 30 lives in the Bajaur region bordering Afghanistan.
   30.  Sept. 29, Chile: At least 30 children were killed when an electrical fire broke out at a home for mentally retarded children near Santiago.

   MARINE

   31.  Jan. 3, China: At least 42 people died when a ferry collided with a barge during foggy conditions on the Tuo-jiang River in Sichuan Province.
   32.  Feb. 12, Kenya: At least 34 people perished when an overloaded ferry capsized in the Kenyan waters of Lake Victoria.
   33.  Feb. 18, Eritrea: A boat carrying illegal immigrants to Saudi Arabia sank in the Red Sea; at least 80 people perished.
   34.  Feb. 19, Sri Lanka: At least 130 ethnic Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka's civil war died when the ship carrying them from Mannar to India capsized.
   35.  Mar. 15, Myanmar: At least 35 people drowned when a ferry sank in a dust storm on the Irrawaddy River near Thabeikkyin.
   36.  Mar. 28, Italy: Some 80 Albanian refugees perished when their boat sank after colliding with an Italian naval vessel outside Brindisi.
   37.  June 13, Bangladesh: At least 50 people drowned when a large passenger boat sank amid the strong currents of the Dhanu River, in the Netrakona district.
   38.  Early July, Nigeria: An overloaded boat sank off the coast of Nigeria after being stopped by a Nigerian coast guard vessel. At least 67 people drowned in the incident, which was reported to have occurred early in the month but was never officially confirmed.
   39.  July 11, India: An overcrowded ferry boat sank into the Bagmati River in Bihar State, killing at least 50 people.
   40.  July 13, Indonesia: An overloaded ferry carrying villagers returning from a festival sank in Lake Toba, Sumatra; at least 83 people perished.
   41.  July 18, India: An overcrowded ferry sank in the Kosi River in Bihar State, causing the deaths of more than 30 people.
   42.  July 20, India: A boat loaded with Nepalese on a shopping expedition sank into the rain-swollen Rapti River, killing at least 40 people.
   43.  July 24, Sierra Leone: At least 45 people perished when a ship experiencing engine trouble was hit by a storm and sank off the coast.
   44.  July 25, Malaysia: Two boats carrying illegal immigrants from Indonesia collided with a tanker in the Strait of Malacca and sank, drowning at least 40 people.
   45.  Aug. 22, India: At least 40 people perished when the overcrowded boat they were riding capsized in the Morhar River in Bihar State.
   46.  Aug. 26, Nigeria: Poor visibility caused by bad weather led two passenger vessels to collide and one to sink near Port Harcourt; at least 100 people died in the mishap.
   47.  Sept. 1, Nigeria: More than 100 people died when a barge collided with a passenger ferry in southeastern Nigeria.
   48.  Sept. 8, Haiti: A crowded ferry capsized off Montrouis when the passengers rushed to one side of the ship to disembark; more than 170 people drowned.
   49.  Sept. 26, Indonesia: A boat capsized and killed 29 people following a collision with a tanker in the Strait of Malacca, filled with smoke from forest fires in the region.
   50.  Oct. 12, India: At least 40 people drowned when a boat capsized in the Sone River in Uttar Pradesh State.
   51.  Oct. 19, Indonesia: A passenger ship collided with a tugboat amid heavy smoke on the Barito River in Kalimantan Province; at least 25 people were killed.
   52.  Nov. 26, Morocco: At least 30 fishermen died when their trawler ran aground in a storm near Agadir.
   53.  Dec. 12, Sierra Leone: About 60 refugees who were fleeing to Liberia to avoid fighting in Sierra Leone died when their boat capsized on the Mano River.
   54.  Dec. 14, Haiti: Approximately 40 people died when a nighttime ferry sank after leaving Port-au-Prince.

   MINE

   55.  Jan. 25, China: At least 31 coal miners died in a gas explosion in a mine located near Yima in Henan Province.
   56.  Mar. 4, China: A gas explosion in a coal mine in Lushan County in Henan Province killed at least 89 miners.
   57.  May 2, China: At least 31 workers died in an explosion in an improperly ventilated coal mine in Laiwu.
   58.  May 28, China: A gas explosion in a Fushun coal mine killed at least 60 miners.
   59.  Aug. 27, Ghana: At least 20 miners died near Tarkwa when the shaft they were working in collapsed.
   60.  Oct. 25, China: Thirty-two miners died in an explosion in an unlicensed coal mine near Pingdingshan in Henan Province.
   61.  Nov. 4, China: Forty-three people perished in an explosion in a coal mine in Guizhou Province.
   62.  Nov. 13, China: An explosion in a coal mine near Huainan, Anhui Province, killed 89 people; two weeks later, another explosion at a Huainan mine killed 45 people.
   63.  Dec. 2, Russia: Sixty-seven people perished in a explosion at a coal mine in the Siberian city of Novokuznetsk.

   NATURAL

   64.  Dec. 26, 1996-Jan. 5, 1997, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington: Heavy rains caused flooding that killed at least 20 people and damaged property worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
   65.  Late 1996-Jan. 1997, China: Severe storms, heavy snows, and extremely cold temperatures killed at least 36 people in Xinjiang Uygur Province.
   66.  Jan., Bangladesh: Unseasonably cold weather caused approximately 200 deaths in the northern part of the country, many of them poor, malnourished people who were inadequately clothed and housed.
   67.  Jan. 1-Jan. 7, Brazil: Floods and mud slides caused by heavy rains killed over 70 people and left more than 30,000 homeless in southeastern and central Brazil.
   68.  Jan. 24-25, Madagascar: Cyclone Gretelle hit southern Madagascar, causing flooding and building collapses that killed at least 150 people.
   69.  Feb. 4, Iran: Two earthquakes that were centered near Bojnurd killed more than 80 people and left over 25,000 homeless.
   70.  Feb. 8-9, Madagascar: Tropical depression Josie caused flooding in northern Madagascar that killed at least 34 people.
   71.  Feb. 18, Peru: A rain-caused mud slide buried two villages in Tamburco District, killing over 300 people.
   72.  Feb. 28, Iran: An earthquake approximately of magnitude 6 struck the northwestern province of Ardebil, with an aftershock following on March 2; almost 1,000 people were killed. Rescue efforts in early March were hampered by a heavy snows and below-freezing temperatures.
   73.  Feb. 28, Pakistan: About 60 people died when a violent earthquake shook Baluchistan Province, followed in less than a half hour by a strong aftershock.
   74.  Mar. 1, Arkansas: Storms, including over a dozen tornadoes, raked Arkansas, killing at least 25 people.
   75.  Mar. 1-4, Ohio River: Heavy rains touched off the Ohio basin's worst flooding in over three decades; by the time the waters abated later in the month, the floods had caused more than 30 deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of damage.
   76.  Mar. 9, Peru: A mud slide swept over a bus filled with teachers on an outing in the Andes Mountains, about 600 miles southeast of Lima, killing at least 35 people.
   77.  Mar. 19-26, Afghanistan: More than 100 people were reportedly killed by freezing weather and avalanches at the Salang Pass.
   78.  Mar. 28-Apr. 3, Tanzania: Flooding resulting from torrential seasonal rains killed more than 50 people in the Lindi region.
   79.  Apr.-early May, North Dakota, Minnesota, Manitoba: At least five deaths and $2 billion in property damage resulted from severe flooding in the Red River Valley caused by melt water from unusually heavy winter snows. The record-setting crest reached Canada on April 28.
   80.  Apr. 19-21, Ethiopia: Flooding around Arba Minch left at least 29 people dead, many of them children.
   81.  Apr. 22-May 15, Afghanistan: A series of flash floods killed at least 40 people in northern Afghanistan.
   82.  Apr. 23-May 2, Niger: At least 36 people died when the truck they were riding got lost in a sandstorm in the desert region between Dirkou and Agadez; there were eight survivors.
   83.  May 3, Kenya: Following heavy rains, the Kafuloni River in eastern Kenya burst its banks; the resulting floods killed at least 40 people.
   84.  May 8-9, China: Extremely heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in southern China that left at least 110 people dead.
   85.  May 10, Iran: A magnitude 7.1 earthquake shook the eastern province of Khorasan, killing over 1,500 people and injuring thousands more.
   86.  May 19, Bangladesh: A severe cyclone killed more than 100 people and left 1 million homeless.
   87.  May 22, India: At least 38 people died when an earthquake of magnitude 6 struck the state of Madhya Pradesh.
   88.  May 27, Texas: A tornado with winds of up to 260 miles an hour killed 27 residents of a single subdivision in Jarrell.
   89.  June 4-5, China: Landslides caused by heavy rains killed at least 40 people in Yunnan Province.
   90.  June 5, China: Heavy rains caused a massive landslide in the Daliang Mountains of Sichuan Province; the slide destroyed four villages and killed approximately 150 people.
   91.  June 6-7, China: A thunderstorm caused flooding that killed at least 56 people and damaged more than 66,000 buildings in central Hunan Province, while killing at least 29 people in Hubei Province.
   92.  June 9, India: A series of landslides in the Himalayan state of Sikkim caused at least 50 deaths.
   93.  June 23-30, India: Extremely heavy monsoon rains resulted in floods in Gujarat State that killed more than 170 people.
   94.  June 25, Montserrat: At least 19 people died when the Soufrière Hills volcano, continuing its eruptive activity, spewed gas and debris over a number of villages.
   95.  July 2, Michigan: Severe storms in and around Detroit killed 16, including a family of four that died when a portable generator filled their home with carbon monoxide.
   96.  July 3-22, China: Severe flooding caused by heavy seasonal rains killed at least 160 people and displaced tens of thousands in southern China.
   97.  July 5-22, Czech Republic, Poland, and eastern Germany: Heavy rain produced the worst flooding in at least a century, killing approximately 100 people, forcing thousands to flee their homes, and causing billions of dollars' worth of damage.
   98.  July 8-July 13, Bangladesh: Monsoon rains caused widespread flooding that sank boats and destroyed homes, killing more than 70 people.
   99.  July 9, Venezuela: A powerful earthquake struck northeastern Venezuela, destroying schools and homes and killing some 80 people.
   100.                      July 15-18, China: Heavy rains triggered a landslide that buried several homes and killed at least 31 people in a rural area of Guizhou Province. Another landslide toppled a building in Sichuan Province two days later, killing at least 48 people. One day after that, landslides in Yunnan Province caused the deaths of some 17 people.
   101.                      July 27, Pakistan: At least 30 people died in floods and house collapses caused by heavy monsoon rains.
   102.                      July 30, Australia: A landslide demolished two lodges and killed 18 people at the ski resort of Thredbo, in New South Wales.
   103.                      Aug. 2, China: Typhoon Victor slammed into China's south coast, killing 65 people and causing at least $240 million in damage.
   104.                      Aug. 11-12, India: Heavy rains caused the Sutlej and Andhara Rivers to flood, killing at least 140 people in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
   105.                      Aug. 12, Arizona: A flash flood swept away 11 hikers in Antelope Canyon.
   106.                      Aug. 17-18, Taiwan and China: Strong winds and heavy rains caused by Typhoon Winnie killed more than 30 people in Taiwan and some 200 in mainland China, primarily in Zhejiang Province.
   107.                      Aug. 22-30, Thailand: Flooding across the southern part of the country killed at least 46 people and caused $73 million in damage.
   108.                      Aug. 26-30, Pakistan: Heavy monsoon rains caused flash floods and house collapses that killed more than 140 people and left more than 20,000 homeless.
   109.                      Aug. 26-30, Jammu and Kashmir: Heavy rains caused flooding and landslides that killed at least 50 people across the state.
   110.                      Sept. 1-2, China: Flooding along the Xiangjiang River in Hunan Province killed at least 60 people.
   111.                      Sept. 4, Paraguay: At least 35 people died when a tornado knocked in the roof of a stadium during a political rally in Ciudad del Este.
   112.                      Sept. 27, Bangladesh: A cyclone destroyed homes and knocked down trees, killing at least 50 people.
   113.                      Oct. 8-9, Mexico: Hurricane Pauline killed more than 200 people when it battered Guerrero and Oaxaca states with winds topping 120 miles per hour.
   114.                      Oct. 18-Dec. 4, Somalia and Ethiopia: Massive flooding along the Jubba and Shebele Rivers killed more than 1,500 Somalis and nearly 300 Ethiopians.
   115.                      Oct. 19-Nov. 7, India: Lightning and flooding resulting from monsoon rains killed 108 people in Tamil Nadu State.
   116.                      Oct. 31, Azore Islands: At least 29 people died when mud slides buried homes in the village of Ribeira Quente on São Miguel.
   117.                      Early November, Tajikistan: At least 40 people were killed when an avalanche crashed down on a road through Anzob Pass.
   118.                      Nov. 2-3, Vietnam and Cambodia: More than 600 Vietnamese as well as 25 Cambodians perished when Typhoon Linda slammed into the southern coast.
   119.                      Nov. 6, Spain and Portugal: Torrential rains caused flash floods that killed at least 32 people in a number of mountainous border towns.
   120.                      Nov. 9-25, Ecuador: Massive rains claimed more than 30 lives.
   121.                      Nov. 30, India: At least 36 people died when a fierce storm lashed Uttar Pradesh State.
   122.                      Dec. 13-17, Mexico: A record cold snap killed at least 20 people, most of them in northern Mexico.

   RAIL

   123.                      Mar. 3, Pakistan: A passenger train with defective brakes crashed after being switched to a dead-end line near Khanewal in order to avoid a possible collision with another passenger train. More than 130 people perished in the accident.
   124.                      Apr. 29, China: Nearly 100 people died when a passenger train plowed into another passenger train that was stopped on the tracks at Rongjiawan station in Hunan Province.
   125.                      May 4, Zaire: More than 90 Rwandan refugees were crushed or trampled to death on board overcrowded train cars transporting them from Biaro to a repatriation center in Kisangani.
   126.                      Sept. 14, India: At least 80 people died when a train stopped suddenly, sending five passenger cars off a bridge into a rocky river bottom in Madhya Pradesh State.
   127.                      Nov. 6, Cuba: A train collided with a bus at a crossing in Holguín Province and killed 56 people, nearly all of them residents of the province.
   128.                      Dec. 24, Pakistan: A train ran into another train that had stopped at Rustam Sargana; at least 34 people died in the wreck, caused in part by a dense fog.

   TRAFFIC

   129.                      Jan. 3, Colombia: Thirty-seven people—all said to be members of the same extended family—died when a bus plunged into a chasm in the Colombian Andes.
   130.                      Jan. 14, Egypt: A bus fell off a Cairo bridge into the Nile River, causing the deaths of at least 39 people.
   131.                      Jan. 19, India: Twenty-nine people died in Punjab when a bus carrying a wedding party missed a curve and plunged into a river.
   132.                      Feb. 6, Nigeria: Thirty people, many of them students, died when the bus they were traveling on collided with a truck in northeastern Nigeria.
   133.                      Feb. 9-10, Indonesia: Two bus accidents in West Java during the Moslem holiday of Eid al-Fitr killed more than 30 people. At least 20 people died near Garut when a bus plunged into a gorge. An additional 11 people were killed in Cirebon when a bus collided with a van.
   134.                      Feb. 13, China: At least 40 people died when a long-distance passenger bus in Guangdong Province burst into flames.
   135.                      Mar. 17, Azerbaijan: At least 46 people, including a dozen children, died when the bus they were riding fell off a bridge into the Tovus-Chai River in western Azerbaijan
   136.                      Apr. 8, India: A bus plunged into a Himalayan gorge in Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir, killing more than 30 people.
   137.                      Apr. 12, India: At least 25 people, all of the members of a wedding party, perished when the bus they were riding fell into a gorge in Uttar Pradesh.
   138.                      May 4, Kenya: In the worst multiple-vehicle accident in Kenyan history, a large truck experienced brake failure and plowed into several cars and vans near Naivasha, killing more than 30 people.
   139.                      May 8, India: A truck carrying a group of people to a wedding fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh State; at least 70 passengers died.
   140.                      June 5, Sierra Leone: Eighty-one refugees fleeing fighting in Freetown died when the bus they were in fell off a bridge near Makeni.
   141.                      June 7, Guatemala: At least 35 bus passengers died when their vehicle fell into a ravine in Huehuetenango Province.
   142.                      June 19, China: A bus hit a truck and fell into a ravine in Guizhou Province, killing at least 31 people.
   143.                      June 25, India: At least 30 people perished when a bus skidded off the road and crashed into a ditch in Uttar Pradesh State.
   144.                      July 3, India: A bus fell into a monsoon-swollen river near Ahmadabad, killing at least 32 people.
   145.                      July 6, Sudan: At least 62 people were killed outside of El-Kamlen when a truck slammed into a bus and another truck and caught fire.
   146.                      July 8, China: At least 33 people died when their bus skidded off a flooded road and into a river near Wanxian, Sichuan Province.
   147.                      July 31, India: A bus plunged into the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh State; at least 40 people perished in the accident.
   148.                      Aug. 21, China: A bridge spanning a river in Xinjiang Uygur Province collapsed underneath a truck carrying 56 people, killing 39 of them.
   149.                      Sept. 2, India: At least 40 people died when a passenger bus fell into the swollen Kail River in Madhya Pradesh State.
   150.                      Sept. 4, Ethiopia: A bus crashed into a ravine outside of Dese; 36 people were killed in the accident.
   151.                      Sept. 4, Turkey: A road accident involving two passenger buses and a truck killed more than 30 people in Bolu Province.
   152.                      Sept. 10, Nigeria: A bus and trailer truck collided in Edo State, killing at least 40 people.
   153.                      Sept. 14, Indonesia: At least 36 people perished when a bus collided with a truck outside of Jakarta.
   154.                      Sept. 19, Vietnam: At least 33 people drowned when the bus on which they were passengers plunged into the South China Sea in Phu Yen Province.
   155.                      Sept. 26, India: A bus swerved into the Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh State; at least 36 people died in the accident. Five days later, at least 50 people died in Andhra Pradesh when their bus plunged into a rain-swelled rivulet.
   156.                      Oct. 6, Bangladesh: At least 32 people died when a bus crashed into a ditch near Brahmanbaria.
   157.                      Oct. 12, China: A bus fell off a cliff in Yunnan Province, killing 42 of its passengers.
   158.                      Oct. 13, Canada: More than 40 senior citizens on board a tour bus died when the bus plunged off a mountainside outside of Quebec City.
   159.                      Oct. 13, India: A bus plunged into the Bordubi River in Assam State, killing at least 40 of the people on board.
   160.                      Oct. 14, Bangladesh: At least 58 people died when the bus they were riding crashed near Tangail.
   161.                      Oct. 18, Sierra Leone: A truck carrying refugees fleeing fighting in Freetown overturned; at least 65 people died.
   162.                      Oct. 24, Turkey: A bus and a tanker truck collided and burst into flames near Konya, killing 48 people.
   163.                      Oct. 25, South Africa: A bus carrying members of the Inkatha Freedom Party Women's Brigade collided with a gas tanker near Mandini; at least 33 people burned to death when the tanker exploded.
   164.                      Nov. 4, Bolivia: At least 32 people died in a bus accident about 90 miles north of La Paz.
   165.                      Nov. 18, India: A speeding school bus plunged into the Yamuna River in New Delhi, killing 30 children.
   166.                      Nov. 27, India: At least 34 members of a wedding party were killed in Karnataka State when their bus crashed into a canal.

   MISCELLANEOUS

   167.                      Jan. 8, Pakistan: Several containers of chlorine gas leaked while being trucked through Lahore; the fumes killed at least 20 people and injured hundreds.
   168.                      Jan. 20, Pakistan: At least 32 people in Hyderabad died after consuming tainted homemade liquor.
   169.                      Mar. 25, China: A four-story workers' dormitory in Putian, Fujian Province, collapsed, and more than 30 people were killed.
   170.                      May 30-June 2, Russia: At least 22 people died in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk after drinking methyl alchohol sold as vodka.
   171.                      July 12, China: Thirty-six people perished when a five-story residential building in Zhejiang Province collapsed.
   172.                      Aug. 30-Sept. 2, Sri Lanka: Arrack (a type of liquor) tainted with methyl alcohol poisoned and killed at least 50 people in eastern Sri Lanka.
   173.                      Nov. 14, India: At least 24 people died after drinking tainted liquor in a bar near Bombay.