What is the first major disaster you remember

[Shmoigel]

The first one I clearly remember was the King’s Cross fire in 87 and Lockerbie in 88

Tell me yours

I remember it happening. I cried all the way through that episode ofvthe Crown. Those poor innocent children happily going into school singing.

Aberfan

9/11

I can remember the sinking of a boat where the doors had been left open?
news report interrupted my cartoon that’s how I remember it!
im 44 if that helps with the name of it

Dunblane, I remember my Dad picking me up from school and telling me about it. He was really upset.

That would be the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster at Zeebrugge in 1987.

Oh yes, that makes sense. It’s been confusing me as I remember so much other stuff from that time, music, school, holidays etc and I remember news items from a couple of years later.

The herald of free enterprise rolling over. I always have a moment of panic on a car ferry when I remember it.

I think it was before Hillsbourgh and Lockerbie, both of which I remember.

Moorgate Tube Crash in 1975. I was 11 and felt so sorry for a young policewoman who lost her foot in the crash. I still think of her and wonder where she is now.

911

Mine is Dunblane, I was 13 and it was the day my school were performing a drama show containing the poem ‘The Lesson’ in which a teacher shoots schoolchildren. The news of Dunblane broke a few hours before and I remember saying I really don’t think we should perform this but the teachers went ahead. I sobbed throughout the performance as it was just too real.

Herald of Free Enterprise
Hillsborough

Lockerbie was a massive one for me - you can see my relative's house in the news footage of the crater.

Challenger and then I think Chernobyl. Zeebrugge was quite close in time too, but I think after those.

Moorgate train crash….must have been 7 or 8

Probably the twin towers attack.
I remember my school teacher saying "something serious has happened and we want you to talk to your parents straight away".
I remember feeling SO sad. I also remember everyone buying newspapers to keep them because they "might be worth lots of money one day".
I also have a vivid memory of a picture of a woman walking out the rubble... must've seen it on tv or a newspaper.

I was about 10 or 11 I think?

Chernobyl.
But I grew up with bombs and violence every day.

Hyde Park bombing in 82
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Park_and_Regent%27s_Park_bombings

BSE crisis and Dunblane. But yes like others, the first big news story was Jamie Bulger

I was 4 when Diana died and I clearly remember hearing my Mum say “oh my god Princess Diana has died”. The first tragedy I remembered in detail is 9/11. Coming home from school aged 8 and every channel had that awful video of the plane going straight through one of the towers.

Challenger exploding. I remember realising watching the news flash that it was a big deal and telling the decorator who was painting our hall. Must have been about 12.

Next one was 911. Nothing will come close to that day.

Didn't read the full thread. Can't believe I jumped from Challenger to 911 and missed some biggies out. Just shows you how your brain tries to protect you from trauma, by not thinking about some things as it's too upsetting.

Dunblane. I’m 38 and was in primary 5 in Scotland so 10. I have clear memories of all of the young girls in the class crying and the teacher trying to hush everyone up and get on with the day. Then whenever we would go to the gym for PE I would picture it happening which sounds weird

9/11

Mine was the Rwanda genocide in 1994

I remember lots of news stories about the troubles in NI but the story that stuck out to me was the Omagh bombing because my friend came back from holiday and said that they had driven through Omagh the day of the bomb and that they felt very lucky to have missed it.

I also remember the scandals around child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Irelamd came out in the 90s and I remember being really scared because I didn't know what molested meant and nobody would tell me (because I was 8)