February 2
2012
MV Rabaul Queen ferry disaster
On the night of February 2, 2012, the passenger ferry MV Rabaul Queen sank off Cape Gazelle near Kokopo, East New Britain Province, in the Bismarck Sea. The ship foundered in heavy seas and strong winds; local fishing boats undertook the first rescues, while provincial and national authorities later mounted broader search-and-rescue and recovery operations. Unreliable passenger manifests, questions about overloading and safety equipment, and long‑standing regulatory weaknesses in Papua New Guinea’s inter-island ferry system turned the sinking into one of the country’s deadliest peacetime maritime disasters. Read more
1998
Cebu Pacific Flight 387 Crash
The tragic crash of Cebu Pacific Flight 387 on February 2, 1998, into Mount Sumagaya marked a dark day in the history of Philippine aviation, underscoring critical flaws in navigation protocols under challenging weather conditions. Read more
1982
1982 Hama massacre
In early February 1982, Syrian government forces moved to retake the city of Hama after an armed uprising, unleashing a weeks‑long siege, heavy bombardment, and house‑to‑house operations that left large parts of the city destroyed and thousands dead. Casualty estimates remain contested—commonly cited ranges put the dead between roughly 10,000 and 40,000—while survivors, journalists and historians agree that the operation decisively crushed open Islamist armed resistance and reshaped Syrian politics for decades. Read more
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