This is a list of
crowd collapses and crushes in which at least five people died. The deadliest modern crowd crush incidents have both occurred during the
Hajj
Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
pilgrimage, with the
1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy claiming 1,426 lives and the
2015 Mina stampede claiming 2,400.
(Although the term "stampede" is used in some media outlets, the scientific consensus is that true stampedes involving humans are extremely rare.
)
Ancient era
*In AD 80, the Roman-Jewish historian
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
recorded that in Jerusalem, while
Ventidius Cumanus was
procurator of
Judea
Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...
(AD 48–52), a Roman soldier
mooned Jewish pilgrims at the
Jewish Temple in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
who had gathered for
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt.
According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...
, and "spake such words as you might expect upon such a posture", causing a riot in which youths threw stones at the soldiers, who then called in reinforcements. The pilgrims panicked, and the ensuing stampede reportedly resulted in the deaths of thousands of Jews. According to Josephus, "upwards of ten thousand" and more than twenty thousand people perished in the event, though these numbers may have been exaggerated.
1700s
* 11 October 1711: 245 people were killed in a crush on the Guillotière bridge () in
Lyon, France, when a large crowd returning from a festival on the other side of the
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...
became trapped against an obstruction in the middle of the bridge caused by a collision between a carriage and a cart.
* 30 May 1770: At least 133 people died when a
fireworks
Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...
display at what is now the
Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.
It was the s ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, a celebration of the wedding of the future
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
and
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
, set mannequins and other decorations aflame, leading to a panic in which many were trampled and others drowned in the adjacent
Seine
The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
. Some historians have put the total death toll up to 3,000.
1800s
1900s
2000–present
2000s
2010s
2020s
References
See also
*
List of accidents and disasters by death toll
{{Human stampedes
*
Human stampedes and crushes