List of disasters in Poland by death toll

Listed below are the worst disasters in Poland's history, listed by death toll. This list excludes warfare, the Holocaust and intentional acts of destruction, but may include accidents in which the military, Polish or foreign, was involved (e.g. Osiecznica bus disaster - a collision between a Polish bus and a Soviet Army truck).

Some of the disasters listed here occurred outside of current Polish borders (e.g. the Smolensk Tu-154 crash) or in times when Poland was not internationally recognized (e.g. during the partitions of Poland), but the predominant number of victims were either Poles or Polish citizens.

Over 100 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055	Aviation accident	Warsaw	183	9 May 1987	[1]
Kleofas coal mine disaster [pl]	Mining accident	Katowice	104	3–4 March 1896	[2]
Barbara-Wyzwolenie coal mine disaster [pl]	Mining accident	Chorzów	103	21 March 1954	[3]

40 to 99 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
Smolensk Tu-154 crash	Aviation accident	Smolensk	96	10 April 2010
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007	Aviation accident	Warsaw	87	14 March 1980
Makoszowy coal mine disaster [pl]	Mining accident	Zabrze	72	28 August 1958
Otłoczyn railway accident	Train wreck	Otłoczyn	67	19 August 1980
Katowice Trade Hall roof collapse	Building collapse	Chorzów	65	28 January 2006	[4]
1928 Poland Derecho	Derecho		62	4 July 1928
Wielopole Skrzyńskie cinema fire [pl]	Structure fire	Wielopole Skrzyńskie	58	11 May 1955	[5]
1997 Central European flood	Flood	Western Poland	56	July 1997
1934 flood in Poland	Flood	South of Poland	55	14-20 July 1934	[6]
1980 Górna Grupa psychiatric hospital fire	Structure fire	Górna Grupa	55	31 October 1980	[7]
Sinking of the MS Jan Heweliusz	Shipwrecking	Baltic Sea (near Rügen)	55	14 January 1993
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165	Aviation accident	Polica (near Zawoja)	53	2 April 1969
Rotunda PKO Bank explosion	Gas explosion	Warsaw	49	15 February 1979	[8]

20 to 39 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
1978 Balkan Bulgarian Tupolev Tu-134 crash	Aviation accident	Gabare (near Byala Slatina, Bulgaria)	39 Poles (out of 73 total fatalities)	16 March 1978	[9]
Czechowice-Dziedzice Refinery fire	Structure fire	Czechowice-Dziedzice	37	26 June 1971	[10]
1962 LOT Vickers Viscount Warsaw crash	Aviation accident	Warsaw	33	19 December 1962	[11]
PKS Gdańsk bus crash	Traffic collision	Gdańsk	32	2 May 1994	[12]
Wilczy Jar buses tragedy [pl]	Traffic collision	Żywiec	30	15 November 1978
Warsaw Holy Cross Church Stampede	Stampede	Warsaw	30	25 December 1881
Grenoble coach crash	Traffic collision	Vizille, France	26	22 July 2007	[13]
Julianka rail crash	Train wreck	Julianka	25	3 November 1976
Osieck rail crash	Train wreck	Osieck	25	4 June 1981	[14]
Sinking of the MS Busko Zdrój	Sinking	North Sea	24	8 February 1985
Kamień Pomorski homeless hostel fire	Structure fire	Kamień Pomorski	23	13 April 2009	[15]
2006 Halemba coal mine disaster	Mining accident	Ruda Śląska	23	22 November 2006	[16]
MS Maria Konopnicka fire	Boat fire	Stocznia Gdańska	23	13 December 1961
1995 Gdańsk gas explosion	Gas explosion	Gdańsk	23	17 April 1995	[17]
Mirosławiec air accident	Aviation accident	Mirosławiec	20	23 January 2008	[18]
MS Kudowa Zdrój		Mediterranean Sea	20	20 January 1983	[19]
Wujek-Śląsk coal mine disaster	Mining accident	Ruda Śląska	20	18 September 2009	[20]

15 to 19 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
Balaton coach crash	Traffic collision	Near Lake Balaton in Hungary	19	1 July 2002	[21]
Halemba coal mine disaster	Mining accident	Ruda Śląska	19	10 January 1990
1968 Biały Jar avalanche	Avalanche	Sněžka (near Karpacz)	19	20 March 1968	[22]
Nowe Miasto nad Pilica bus crash	Traffic collision	Nowe Miasto nad Pilica	18	12 October 2010	[23]
Mysłowice coal mine disaster	Mining accident	Mysłowice	18	4 February 1987
B406/6 trawler explosion		Stocznia Gdańska	18	18 June 1980
Motława ferry disaster	Shipwreck	Gdańsk	18	1 August 1975	[24]
M/v Nysa		North Sea	18	10 January 1965
Polish Air Force An-24 crash	Aviation accidents	Szczecin	18	28 February 1973	[25]
1976 Gdańsk gas explosion	Gas explosion	Gdańsk	17	1 February 1976	[26]
Szczekociny rail crash	Train wreck	Szczekociny	16	3 March 2012	[27]
Ursus rail crash	Train wreck	Ursus	16	20 August 1990	[28]
Radkowice rail crash	Train wreck	Radkowice	14	27 August 1973	[29]
Osiecznica bus crash		Osiecznica	15	22 January 1978	[30]
Wyszaka streetcar crash		Szczecin	15	7 December 1967	[31]

10 to 14 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
Brandenburg coach crash		Schönefeld	14	26 September 2010
Kaskada catering plant fire [pl]	Structure fire	Szczecin	14	27 April 1987	[32]
MS Czubatka		North Sea	14	10 May 1955
Krosno Odrzańskie tornado	Tornado	Krosno Odrzańskie	13	13 May 1886
Izbicko level crossing accident		Izbicko	13	6 January 1960
2022 Croatian bus crash	Traffic collision	A4 highway near Breznički Hum, Croatia	12	6 August 2022	[33]
Storm in Mazury		Masuria	12	21 August 2007
Jeżewo coach crash		Sikory-Wojciechowięta	12	30 September 2005
Reptowo rail crash		Reptowo	12	5 May 1997
Bydgoszcz rail crash		Śliesin (near Bydgoszcz)	12	3 June 1972
MS Cyranka		North Sea	12	4 October 1956
ČSM-north coal mine disaster,		Stonava (near Karviná), Czechia	12	20 December 2018
Psie Pole rail crash		Mirków	11 (unofficial death toll is 32)	9 July 1977
Jas-Mos coal mine disaster	Mining accident		10	10 February 2002
Ministry of Interior and Administration helicopter crash		Near Cisna	10	10 January 1991
Drogomil level crossing accident		Drogomil	10	4 June 1988
Piła rail crash		Piła	10	19 May 1988
MS Brda		Hanstholm, Denmark	10	10 January 1975
Rokitnica coal mine disaster		Zabrze	10	23 March 1971
Agricultural University building collapse		Wrocław	10	22 March 1966

Fewer than 10 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
Bratoszewice level crossing collision		Bratoszewice	9	30 July 2012	[34]
1983 Łódź gas explosion	Gas explosion	Łódź	8	7 December 1983
1963 smallpox epidemic in Wrocław	Epidemic	Wrocław	7	17 July – 19 September 1963	[35]
2017 Świebodzice tenement collapse [pl]	Building collapse	Świebodzice	6	8 April 2017	[36]
ToNiePokój escape room fire	Structure fire	Koszalin	5	4 January 2019	[37]
2008 Poland tornado outbreak	Tornado	Opole Voivodeship, Silesian Voivodeship and Łódź Voivodeship.	4	15–16 August 2008
2022 missile explosion in Poland	Explosion	Przewodów	2	15 November 2022

See also

• List of disasters in Antarctica by death toll
• List of disasters in Australia by death toll
• List of disasters in Canada by death toll
• List of disasters in Croatia by death toll
• List of disasters in Germany by death toll
• List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll
• List of disasters in New Zealand by death toll
• List of disasters in Ukraine by death toll
• List of disasters in the United States by death toll