The Bethnal Green Disaster

The Bethnal Green Disaster was a tragic incident during World War II in London on March 3, 1943. During an air raid, many people sought shelter in a subway station. A crowd tried to enter a stairway as sirens sounded, causing a crushing panic. Tragically, 173 civilians, mostly women and children, died in the crush. The disaster highlighted the dangers of mass evacuation procedures and crowd control during wartime emergencies. It remains one of the deadliest civilian mass injuries in British history.