January 2000 Disasters

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

• Jan. 4, Rena, Norway: 2 trains collided head-on after one of the drivers failed to stop for a red signal. Nineteen people killed and 35 injured in the crash.
• Jan. 18, off Rio de Janeiro: Ruptured pipeline owned by government oil company, Petrobras, spewed 343,200 gallons of heavy oil into Guanabara Bay.
• Jan. 30, off Ivory Coast: Kenya Airways Airbus A-310, carrying 179 passengers and crew, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after takeoff from Abidjan. Ten people survived.
• Jan. 31, off Oxnard, Calif.: Alaska Airways flight originating in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and scheduled to stop in San Francisco and then Seattle, crashed in the Pacific. All 88 people aboard killed.
• Jan. 31, Butuan City, Philippines: At least 11 were killed and over 20,000 were forced to evacuate as torrential rains caused floods and landslides.

See also Major Earthquakes Around the World 2000

See also Recent Volcanic Activity