Disasters

Russian reports now say 52 dead in Siberian coal mine fire
Russian news agencies say a fire at a Siberian coal mine has killed 52 miners and rescuers. Officials previously said that rescuers found 14 bodies and the search for 38 people missing was halted for safety reasons Thursday, because of a buildup of explosive methane gas and a high concentration of toxic fumes from the fire.
Bus crashes, catches fire in Bulgaria; at least 45 dead
A bus carrying people home to North Macedonia from a tourist trip to Istanbul crashed and caught fire in western Bulgaria early Tuesday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said.
Chief: No evidence parade-crash suspect knew anyone on route
Police say the suspect in a deadly Christmas parade crash in suburban Milwaukee was in a domestic disturbance just minutes before killing five people and injuring 48. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said Monday there is no evidence of terrorism in the event.
Friends, families mourn as Houston officials investigate concert deaths
Investigators worked Sunday to determine how eight people died in a crush of fans at a Houston music festival, as friends and loved ones mourned the victims and a makeshift memorial of flowers and candles took shape at the site.
Astroworld music festival joins a list of historical concert tragedies
The deaths of at least eight people at the Astroworld music festival in Houston on Friday call to mind other rare but traumatic incidents at concerts and festivals over the past half-century.
Oil tanker truck explodes in Sierra Leone, killing at least 98
An oil tanker truck exploded near Sierra Leone's capital, killing at least 98 people and severely injuring dozens of others after large crowds gathered to collect leaking fuel, officials and witnesses said Saturday.
Crowd surge kills at least 8 at Houston music festival
The dead ranged in age from 14 to 27, and 13 people were still hospitalized, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Saturday. He called the disaster “a tragedy on many different levels” and said it was too early to draw conclusions about what went wrong.
This novel about Haiti's 2010 earthquake shows us: People persist
Myriam J.A. Chancy's new novel “What Storm, What Thunder,” shifting from one character to the next, skipping non-chronologically from 2014 to the day of the earthquake to the days before or the months after, is as far as possible from a maudlin account of a terrible tragedy: It is a precise, albeit fictional, reconstruction of the many kinds of individuals and experiences during and after the tragedy.
With last remaining fire-related closure lifted, the BWCA is now fully reopened
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is now fully reopened to visitors, after a summer of closures due to wildfires. Officials announced Friday that the last remaining closure order in the wilderness was now lifted.