The 10 worst disasters in France
The plague of Marseille, Mount Pelée, Courrières, Malpasset, AZF, Xynthia… The deadliest disasters in France, both mainland and overseas.
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1
Great Plague of Marseille
The ship Grand-Saint-Antoine, back from the Levant with a contaminated cargo of silk, arrives in Marseille on 25 May 1720.
≈ 120,000 deaths
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2
Eruption of Mount Pelée
A pyroclastic flow rushes down the volcano and wipes out Saint-Pierre, nicknamed the “Little Paris of the Caribbean”, within minutes.
≈ 28,000 deaths
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3
European heatwave
For two weeks a blocked anticyclone pushes temperatures above 40 °C across much of Europe, with no relief at night.
≈ 15,000 deaths
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4
Courrières mine disaster
A coal-dust explosion tears through 110 km of galleries of the Courrières Mining Company.
1,099 deaths
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5
Malpasset Dam failure
Five years after its completion, the Malpasset arch dam, swollen by torrential rain, gives way in the evening.
423 deaths
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6
Bazar de la Charité fire
At a charity sale held by Parisian high society, the ether lamp of a cinematograph, then a brand-new invention, sets fire to a set made of wood, canvas and cardboard.
125 deaths
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7
Storms Lothar and Martin
Two extratropical storms of exceptional violence cross France a day apart: Lothar sweeps the north on 26 December, Martin the south on the night of 27 to 28 December.
92 deaths
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8
Plateau d’Assy disaster
In the middle of the night, a flow of mud, snow and rock rushes down the Échines gully and destroys the boys’ wing of the Roc des Fiz children’s sanatorium, where young patients are treated for tuberculosis.
71 deaths
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9
Storm Xynthia
A violent Atlantic storm coincides with a spring tide: during the night, the sea breaches the dikes of Vendée and Charente-Maritime.
53 deaths
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10
Val-d’Isère avalanche
After several days of very heavy snowfall, a powder avalanche hits the UCPA chalet at the bottom of the valley at around 8 a.m., while young holidaymakers are having breakfast.
39 deaths
For the 2003 heatwave, the 1999 storms and Xynthia, only the French toll is counted. The Black Death and the Spanish flu, which also hit France hard, are recorded in the atlas at European and world level. Ranking based on the disasters in the Mémoire du Globe atlas, using the most commonly accepted tolls. For older events, the figures are orders of magnitude.
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