On this day in 1876

Torry, on the south bank of the Dee, was connected to central Aberdeen by a ferryboat. Lacking an engine or sails, the boat was hauled from one bank to the other by a metal cable that ran beneath the water line. This was the cause of a disaster that killed more than 30 passengers.

Boat overloaded

The boat was packed, carrying more than twice the number of passengers it was licenced for. Under the headline “Appalling Boat Accident”, the following day’s London Evening Standard reported that “in the early part of the day the overcrowding of the boats was with difficulty prevented; but as the hours advanced the people got more unmanageable until it was almost impossible to maintain order. About half past three o’clock a rush took place to one of the boats, which became so overloaded that the gunwhale touched the water. The boatsmen refused to proceed until some of the passengers of the boat alighted; but before anyone could disembark certain persons in the middle of the boat seized the machinery and set it in motion.” Moreover, the river was high and the current was strong and, “when the craft reached mid-stream it met the full force of the strong ebb current and was immediately swamped.”

What might not have been obvious was what was happening underwater, where the cable, which had slackened, was suddenly pulled tight, and snapped. The boat was already listing, and this caused it to turn over completely, throwing the passengers into the water.

Boat turned over

“A few managed to get on to the keel, but the boat heeled over, and all were swept off,” wrote a reporter in the Dundee Courier the following day. “The catastrophe was seen by many hundreds, but the whole affair was done in less than two minutes. Five boats were instantly manned, and put off from the Torry side, and many were rescued, but the men state that they saw the bodies of many swept down the river by the torrent about four feet below their boats without being able to save one of those who were below the water. Owing to the current, the bodies swept past faster than the boats could row.”

Although over forty were rescued, 32 died through drowning.

 

...and on this day in 1902

More than two dozen football fans were killed and 500 injured when the West Tribute Stand collapsed at Glasgow’s Ibrox Park. The venue, which was less than three years old, was hosting a match between Scotland and England. Two spectators were killed on the spot, with the other 23 dying in hospital over the next three weeks.

Fans blamed at first

The Sport Argus of that evening described the confusion that reigned. Although later reports confirmed the stand collapse, it initially looked like the disaster had been caused by fans rushing the pitch. “The situation looked decidedly ugly and mounted police paraded – but too late, for thousands had got through the vast terracing, paying no heed to bands of wrestlers provided for the delectation, and all that could be done was to keep some distance from the touch lines,” wrote its journalist. “They swarmed on to the ground. Players were mixed up with spectators… Several mounted police careered amid the crowds with marked result. A number of spectators were hurt and carried off as a result of either the police crowd or the rush of the crowd.”

Match continued

As Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper reported the following day, despite the collapse, “the match was proceeded with so as to divert the attention of the crowd from the scene”, and it ended in one-all a draw.

The stand was rebuilt, with amendments, and other incidents occurred at the ground over the next seven decades, culminating in the 1971 crush that killed 66 spectators close to the end of a game. It was largely rebuilt in the early 1980s, with further significant renovations made in the late 1990s, after which it reopened as the Ibrox Stadium.