Tangiwai Disaster

Date: December 24, 1953 • Location: Turangi, New Zealand

A railway bridge at Tangiwai on New Zealand's North Island was damaged by a lahar and collapsed beneath a passenger train (wreckage pictured), killing 151 people.

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of 113,729 km2 (43,911 sq mi), it is the world's 14th-largest island, constituting 43% of New Zealand's land area. It has a population of 4,067,400, which is 76% of New Zealand's residents, making it the most populous island in Polynesia and the 28th-most-populous island in the world.