List of disasters in Australia by death toll


This is a list of disasters in Australia by death toll.

100 or more deaths

50 to 99 deaths

20 to 49 deaths

Between 10 and 20

Gallery

Significant incidents resulting in fewer than 10 deaths

Significant incidents of Australians being killed overseas

Excludes deaths attributable to war.
DisasterLocationDeathsDateNotes
TerrorismKuta, Bali, Indonesia882002 Oct 122002 Bali bombings
Missile strikeHrabove, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine272014 Jul 17Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
TsunamiThailand and Sri Lanka262004 Dec 262004 Indian Ocean earthquake
Air accidentDenpasar, Indonesia161974 Apr 22Pan Am Boeing 707 crashes into a mountain, a total of 107 people were killed.
FloodSaxeten, Switzerland141999 Jul 28Flash flood hits canyoning expedition
Volcanic eruptionWhakaari/White Island, New Zealand142019 Dec 92019 Whakaari/White Island eruption
Terrorism112001 Sep 1111 September 2001 attacks.
Air accidentNias Island, Indonesia92005 Apr 22005 Nias Island Sea King crash crashes while providing relief services to victims of the 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake
Air accidentnear Isurava, Papua New Guinea92009 Aug 12Airlines PNG Flight 4684
Road accidentnear Cairo, Egypt62006 Jan 10Tourist bus crash
Air accidentRepublic of the Congo62010 Jun 202010 Cameroon Aéro Service CASA C-212 Aviocar crash
Air accidentPakse, Laos62013 Oct 16Lao Airlines Flight 301
Air accidentSouthern Indian Ocean 62014 Mar 8Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Road accidentYamuna Highway, Northern India62016 Jan 10Five members of an Indian-Australian family killed in car accident while traveling between Delhi and Agra, sixth member later died in hospital.
MassacreBalibo, East Timor51975 Oct 16Balibo Five. Five Australian journalists murdered by Indonesian troops. The Indonesian government claimed that the men were unintentionally killed in a cross-fire but a 2007 inquest ruled that the journalists were deliberately murdered.
Air accidentYogyakarta, Indonesia52007 Mar 7Garuda Indonesia Flight 200
TsunamiSamoa52009 Sep 302009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami
SinkingNorth Atlantic Ocean41912 Apr 15Sinking of RMS Titanic. Two other Australians survived.
Air accidentnear San Francisco4+1953 Oct 29British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines Flight 304 crashes on approach to San Francisco.
MassacreWaco, Texas4Waco Siege. At least two other Australians were among the small number of survivors. A child belonging to one of the Australian victims was also lost but was listed as a US citizen.
Bridge collapseRamat Gan, Israel41997 Jul 14Maccabiah bridge collapse
TerrorismJimbaran and Kuta, Bali, Indonesia42005 Oct 12005 Bali bombings
Air accidentTanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia31977 Dec 4Malaysian Airline System Flight 653
FireManoharpur, Odisha, India31999 Jan 22Australian missionary Graham Staines and sons killed in arson attack
TerrorismJakarta, Indonesia32009 Jul 17JW Marriott/Ritz-Carlton hotel bombing
Air accidentMisima Island, Papua New Guinea32010 Aug 31Cessna Citation crashed on landing. One New Zealander also killed.
Air accidentWeybridge, United Kingdom21922 Apr 13Vickers Viking, piloted by Captain Ross Macpherson Smith, crashed on test flight
Air accidentBay of Bengal21935 Nov 8Lady Southern Cross, piloted by Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, crashes en route between Allahabad, India and Singapore
Air accidentLondon, United Kingdom21967 Nov 4Iberia Airlines Flight 062 crashed while landing at Heathrow Airport
Air accidentLos Rodeos, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain21977 Mar 27KLM and Pan Am jumbos collide on runway
Air accidentoff Mauritius21987 Nov 28South African Airways Flight 295
Air accidentNear Hawaii, United States21989 Feb 24United Airlines Flight 811 between Honolulu and Auckland experiences explosive decompression
TerrorismRoermond, Netherlands21990 May 27Australian tourists shot by the Provisional IRA, in the mistaken belief they are British military personnel
TerrorismMumbai, India22008 Nov 26November 2008 Mumbai attacks
Air accidentnear Qazvin, Iran22009 Jul 15Caspian Airlines Flight 7908
TyphoonThe Philippines22013 Nov 8Typhoon Haiyan
Road accidentNarok, Kenya22014 Sep 7Tourist bus crash.
Air accidentSouthern Alps, France22015 Mar 24Germanwings Flight 9525
MurderSinaloa, Mexico22015 Nov 20–21Two Australian surfers murdered.
TerrorismLondon, Great Britain22017 Jun 32017 London Bridge attack
FireNorth Kensington, London, United Kingdom22017 Jun 14Grenfell Tower fire
Road accidentNear Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe22017 Dec 23Two Australian tourists killed in car crash.
SinkingZeebrugge, Belgium11987 Mar 6Herald of Free Enterprise disaster.
TerrorismLockerbie, Scotland11988 Dec 21Pan Am Flight 103. Although a resident of South Africa, the victim was an Australian national.
TerrorismNairobi, Kenya12013 Sep 21-24Westgate shopping mall attack.
AvalancheMt Everest, Himalayas12013 Oct 16Australian tourist killed in avalanche.
TerrorismTunis, Tunisia12015 Mar 18Bardo National Museum attack
EarthquakeNepal12015 Apr 25April 2015 Nepal earthquake. Australian killed below Mt Everest in avalanche triggered by quake.
ShootingMinneapolis, United States12017 Jul 15Australian murdered by US police officer.
TerrorismBarcelona, Spain12017 Aug 172017 Barcelona attacks
AvalancheTyrol, Austria12019 Jan 10Teenage boy killed in avalanche in Austrian Alps while skiing.