November 28
2020
Axum massacre (28–29 November 2020)
In the opening weeks of the Tigray War, the ancient city of Axum became the site of large-scale killings on 28–29 November 2020. Witnesses, satellite imagery, and later investigators documented summary executions, bodies left in the streets, and damage to civilian property. A March 2021 joint Ethiopian Human Rights Commission–UN report documented at least 100 civilian deaths in Axum on those dates and found credible evidence of extrajudicial killings, while other organizations and local groups have reported higher numbers that remain disputed. Read more
2016
LaMia Flight 2933 crash (Chapecoense air disaster)
On November 28, 2016, an Avro RJ85 chartered to carry Associação Chapecoense de Futebol and their entourage crashed near Cerro Gordo, close to La Unión in Antioquia, Colombia, after both engines flamed out from fuel exhaustion. Seventy-one of the 77 people on board died; the disaster exposed failures in fuel planning, operator oversight, and the pressures that can push pilots and companies past safe limits. Read more
2014
2014 Kano attack
On November 28, 2014, a sequence of coordinated bombings and shootings struck Kano metropolis in northern Nigeria — explosions in markets and motor parks, chaotic exchanges of gunfire, overwhelmed hospitals, and an exhausted city left counting the costs. Authorities attributed the strikes to Boko Haram amid conflicting casualty tallies and mounting fear across the region. Read more
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1987
South African Airways Flight 295 — the "Helderberg" disaster
On November 28, 1987, South African Airways Flight 295, a Boeing 747 combi known as the Helderberg, departed Taipei for Johannesburg with a planned stop at Mauritius. Cruising over the Indian Ocean, the crew reported smoke and attempted a diversion. The aircraft later crashed into the sea east of Mauritius with the loss of all 159 people on board. A deep‑water salvage and the Margo Commission concluded an intense cargo compartment fire caused the accident, but investigators could not determine the precise ignition source. The disaster shaped later rules on cargo fire detection and the handling of mixed passenger/cargo operations.
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1979
Air New Zealand Flight 901 — the Mount Erebus disaster
On November 28, 1979, Air New Zealand Flight 901, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 on a daylight sightseeing flight over Antarctica, struck the western slope of Mount Erebus on Ross Island in whiteout conditions. All 257 people aboard were killed. Investigations found the aircraft had been navigated onto an unintended track after a change to preprogrammed coordinates—made by company operations staff and not communicated to the flight crew—combined with diffuse light that erased visual cues. The disaster led to a Royal Commission inquiry, heated disputes over responsibility, major changes in airline procedures, and lasting lessons in human factors and navigational-data management.
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1942
Cocoanut Grove fire
On the night of November 28, 1942, a small spark in Boston’s crowded Cocoanut Grove nightclub ignited highly flammable decorations and, within minutes, turned a popular wartime dance into one of the deadliest single-building fires in American history. Failures of egress, combustible interior finishes, and overcrowding combined to kill 492 people and to change fire-safety rules nationwide.
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1908
Marianna Coal Mine disaster
On November 28, 1908, an underground explosion ripped through the River Hill (Marianna) coal mine in Marianna, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Ignition of methane and subsequent propagation by coal dust killed 154 miners, collapsing a small mining town and adding urgency to early-20th-century calls for stronger mine safety practices.
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