the Miike coal mine in Kyushu, Japan. 458 people were killed by the explosion or by carbon monoxide poisoning. 839 others were injured. May 28, 1965: Dhanbad coal mine disaster, Jharkhand, India. Over 300 miners killed. May 1, 1966: Vratsa dam failure, Zgorigrad, People's Republic of Bulgaria. A copper tailings dam failed and flooded the city of Vratsa and the nearby village of Zgorigrad. Between 107 and 480 people were killed. October 21, 1966: Aberfan disaster, Aberfan, Wales. A catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil-tip killed 116 children and 28 adults. October 30, 1971: Certej dam disaster, Certeju de Sus, Socialist Republic of Romania. A tailings dam failed due to overfilling. The flood destroyed six apartment buildings, a dormitory building and seven individual houses. 89 people were killed. June 6, 1972: Wankie coal mine disaster, Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe). 426 people were killed, making it the country's worst-ever mining disaster. November 29, 1980: Livezeni coal mine disaster, Petroșani, Socialist Republic of Romania. An explosion in the Livezeni Coal Mine killed 53 (including 15 military) and injured 27. It was the fourth-worst mining disaster in Romania. July 19, 1985: Val di Stava dam collapse, Stava, near Tesero, Italy. Two tailings dams, used for sedimenting the mud from the nearby Prestavel mine, failed. This resulted in one of Italy's worst disasters, killing 268 people, destroying 63 buildings and demolishing eight bridges. May 9, 1992: Westray mine disaster, Plymouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. A methane explosion killed all 26 miners. Canada's deadliest mining disaster since 1958. May 9, 1993: Nambija mine disaster, Nambija, Ecuador. Approximately 300 people were killed in a landslide. January 30, 2000: Baia Mare cyanide spill, Baia Mare, Romania. The accident, called the worst environmental disaster in Europe since Chernobyl, was a release of 100,000 tons of cyanide-contaminated water into the rivers Someş, Tisza and Danube by the Aurul mining company due to a reservoir breach. Although no human fatalities were reported, the leak killed up to 80 percent of aquatic life in some of the affected rivers. April 5, 2010: Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, West Virginia, United States. An explosion occurred in Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine. Twenty-nine out of 31 miners at the site were killed. November 19, 2010: Pike River Mine disaster, New Zealand. At 3:45 pm, the coal mine exploded. Twenty-nine men underground died immediately, or shortly afterwards, from the blast or from the toxic