Seconds from Disaster

On July 22, 2011, a gunman goes on a terrorist rampage – starting with an explosion in Oslo and ending with the murder of dozens of teenagers.

On November 18, 1978, cult leader Reverend Jim Jones and his followers die in Guyana, South America. In all 909 people die from a poisoned 'grape juice', the largest mass murder-suicide of US citizens in history. Congressmen Leo Ryan (D-CA) is assassinated. Jim Jones dies of a gunshot wound to the head, his 'divine socialism' had not succeeded.

On September 2, 1998, a fire breaks out on board a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 while on a transatlantic flight, damaging vital systems and causing the aircraft to crash into the sea off the coast of Canada with no survivors.

On October 3–4, 1993, the United States Army in Somalia is engaged in a battle that kills 18 US Rangers and around 1,000 Somali combatants.

On May 10–11, 1996, nine climbers die on Mount Everest, including New Zealand climbing veteran Rob Hall.

On August 12, 1985, the rear pressure bulkhead of a Boeing 747 bursts, destroying the vertical stabilizer and severing all four of the aircraft's vital hydraulic systems. The crew keep the aircraft flying for 32 minutes until it clips Mt Osutaka and crashes, killing all but four people out of the 524 passengers and crew on board.

On April 25, 2005, a seven-car commuter train derails and crashes just before Amagasaki Station in Japan, causing 107 deaths and 562 injuries.

On August 9, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, the United States of America uses a nuclear weapon in combat for the second time, named Fat Man, against the Japanese city of Nagasaki. It is believed that over 70,000 died from radiation effects by one year later. This helped speedily end World War II.

On May 25, 1982, during the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina, a low level bomb attack from Argentinian jets capsizes the HMS Coventry within 20 minutes.

On June 2, 1994, a Royal Air Force Boeing Chinook helicopter crashes on the Mull of Kintyre, on the west coast of Scotland. The initial investigation cites pilot error as the cause, but several more investigations take place over the next 17 years before this verdict is overturned.