Deaths
|
Name or description
|
Type
|
Date
|
Location
|
Notes
|
49
|
Featherston Prisoner of war camp riot
|
riot
|
25 Feb 1943
|
Featherston
|
|
45
|
SS Elingamite
|
shipwreck
|
9 Nov 1902
|
off West Island in the Three Kings Islands
|
|
43
|
Ralph Mine disaster
|
mine explosion
|
12 Sep 1914
|
Huntly
|
methane and coal dust explosion[12]
|
41
|
Ballantyne's store disaster
|
fire
|
18 Nov 1947
|
Christchurch
|
|
40+[13][14]
|
Great storm of 1868, flash floods and 12 shipwrecks
|
storm
|
3 Feb 1868
|
Predominantly eastern areas of New Zealand
|
Death toll likely understated as impact on many Māori unknown
|
37
|
Seacliff Lunatic Asylum
|
fire
|
8 Dec 1942
|
Seacliff
|
|
34
|
Kaitangata Mine disaster
|
mine explosion
|
21 Feb 1879
|
Kaitangata
|
explosion of fire-damp (methane)
|
34[13][15]
|
SS Taiaroa
|
shipwreck
|
11 Apr 1886
|
Waiau Toa / Clarence River mouth
|
|
34[16]
|
Dunedin
|
shipwreck (presumed)
|
1890
|
between Oamaru and London
|
|
30
|
Marlborough
|
shipwreck (presumed)
|
1890
|
between Lyttelton and London
|
|
29[17]
|
MV Kaitawa
|
shipwreck
|
23 May 1966
|
near Pandora Bank, Cape Reinga
|
|
29
|
Pike River Mine disaster
|
mine explosion
|
19 Nov 2010
|
northwest of Greymouth
|
large methane explosion[18]
|
26
|
Barque Maria
|
shipwreck[15]
|
1851
|
Cape Terawhiti
|
|
25+[19][20]
|
Storm of 1897
|
floods and shipwreck
|
16 Apr 1897
|
North Island
|
flooding at Clive, boating accidents, and the wreck of the Zuleika near Cape Palliser. 25 confirmed deaths and 6 unconfirmed
|
25[21][22]
|
MV Joyita
|
ghost ship
|
Oct 1955
|
En route from Apia, Samoa to Tokelau
|
|
24[23]
|
Assaye
|
shipwreck (presumed)
|
1890
|
between London and Wellington; wreckage washed up at the Chatham Islands 7 months after the ship left London
|
|
23
|
New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441
|
air accident
|
3 Jul 1963
|
Kaimai Ranges
|
|
22[24]
|
launch Ranui
|
shipwreck
|
30 Dec 1950
|
off Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty
|
|
22
|
2019 Whakaari/White Island eruption
|
volcanic eruption
|
9 Dec 2019
|
Whakaari/White Island
|
|
21[25][26]
|
brigantine Sophia Pate
|
shipwreck
|
Aug 1841
|
Kaipara Harbour
|
|
21[27]
|
Kopuawhara flash flood of 1938
|
flood
|
19 Feb 1938
|
Destroyed the Kopuawhara railway workers camp
|
|
21
|
Hyde railway disaster
|
rail accident
|
4 Jun 1943
|
near Hyde
|
|
20+[28]
|
Tsunami from 1868 Arica earthquake
|
tsunami
|
13 Aug 1868
|
Chatham Islands
|
|
20[15]
|
schooner St. Vincent
|
shipwreck
|
14 Feb 1869
|
Palliser Bay
|
|
20[29]
|
RNZAF Douglas C-47 disappearance
|
air accident
|
24 Sep 1945
|
en route from Vanuatu
|
|
19[30]
|
Strongman Mine
|
mine explosion
|
19 Jan 1967
|
near Greymouth
|
|
18[31]
|
Canoe on Lake Rotorua
|
boating accident
|
16 Apr 1870
|
near Mokoia Island on Lake Rotorua
|
|
18[32]
|
Clyde
|
shipwreck
|
6 Nov 1884
|
Horseshoe Bay, near Akaroa, Banks Peninsula
|
|
18[33]
|
Canoe on Motu River
|
boating accident
|
4 Aug 1900
|
Motu River – 25 miles from Opotiki[34]
|
There were 16 children and 2 adults in the six person canoe
|
18[35]
|
ketch Enterprise and steamer Tauranga
|
shipwreck
|
23 Jul 1870
|
between Cape Rodney and Sail Rock, Hauraki Gulf
|
Those lost — fourteen crew and four passengers — all came from the Tauranga. The crew of the Enterprise survived in the ship's longboat.[36]
|
18[37]
|
Lastingham
|
shipwreck
|
1 Sep 1884
|
Cape Jackson, Cook Strait
|
|
17
|
Ongarue railway disaster
|
rail accident[13]
|
6 Jul 1923
|
Ongarue
|
|
17[38]
|
1929 Murchison earthquake
|
earthquake
|
17 Jun 1929
|
Murchison
|
|
16[39]
|
1943 Liberator crash at Whenuapai
|
air accident
|
2 Aug 1943
|
Whenuapai
|
Those killed were mainly Japanese civilians who were being repatriated in a prisoner exchange.
|
16[40]
|
Capitaine Bougainville
|
shipwreck
|
3 Sep 1975
|
Whananaki
|
|
15[13]
|
Lockheed Lodestar airliner crash
|
air accident
|
18 Mar 1949
|
near Waikanae
|
|
15[41]
|
MV Holmglen
|
shipwreck
|
24 Nov 1959
|
near Timaru
|
|
15[42]
|
Brynderwyns bus accident
|
road accident
|
7 Feb 1963
|
Brynderwyn Hills
|
|
15[43]
|
Derry Castle
|
shipwreck
|
20 Mar 1887
|
Enderby Island, Auckland Islands
|
|
14[44][45]
|
Hutt River flood
|
floods
|
17 Jan 1858
|
Hutt Valley
|
|
14[46]
|
Two Hudson bombers lost off the New Zealand coast
|
air accident
|
21 Aug 1944
|
en route from Fiji
|
No. 4 Squadron RNZAF
|
14[47]
|
Aramoana massacre
|
spree killing
|
13 Nov 1990
|
Aramoana, near Dunedin
|
|
14
|
Cave Creek disaster
|
structural failure
|
28 Apr 1995
|
Paparoa National Park
|
|
13[15]
|
Tasmania
|
shipwreck
|
1897
|
Māhia Peninsula
|
|
13[48]
|
SS Ventnor
|
shipwreck
|
28 Oct 1902
|
off Omapere, Hokianga
|
|
13
|
NAC Electra air crash
|
air accident
|
23 Oct 1948
|
on Mount Ruapehu
|
|
12[49]
|
L'Alcmène
|
shipwreck
|
3 Jun 1851
|
Baylys Beach, Kaipara
|
A French navy corvette
|
12[50]
|
ferry Pride of the Yarra and paddle steamer Favourite
|
collision
|
6 Jul 1863
|
Otago Harbour
|
|
12[51]
|
Cafe Chantant fire, The Octagon, Dunedin
|
fire
|
8 Sep 1879
|
Dunedin
|
|
12[52]
|
Barque Lizzie Bell
|
shipwreck
|
24 Jul 1901
|
Waimate, Taranaki
|
|
12[53]
|
barque Dundonald
|
shipwreck
|
7 Mar 1907
|
Disappointment Island, Auckland Islands
|
|
12[54][55]
|
Brigantine Rio Loge
|
shipwreck (presumed)
|
Jan 1909
|
Last seen in Cook Strait on 14 January, en route from Kaipara to Dunedin
|
May have caused the wreck of the Penguin a month later.[56]
|
12[57]
|
Cyclone of 1936
|
storm
|
1 Feb 1936
|
North Island and upper South Island
|
A tropical cyclone that originated near the Solomon Islands
|
11[58]
|
Glen Afton No. 1 mine
|
Coal mine fire
|
24 Sep 1939
|
Huntly
|
11 miners, including the mine manager, died from carbon monoxide asphyxia
|
11[59]
|
B17 bomber crash
|
air accident
|
12 Jun 1942
|
RNZAF Base Auckland at Whenuapai
|
|
11[60]
|
2012 Carterton hot air balloon crash
|
air accident
|
7 Jan 2012
|
near Carterton
|
|
11[61]
|
Cyclone Gabrielle
|
cyclone
|
12 Feb 2023–16 Feb 2023
|
North Island and northern South Island
|
|
10[62]
|
Shamrock sailing boat
|
shipwreck
|
1834
|
Queen Charlotte Sound
|
Capsized and sank. Exact location unknown.
|
10[63]
|
Brig Australia
|
shipwreck
|
23 May 1873
|
off Cape Campbell
|
|
10
|
White Island sulphur mine
|
lahar following volcano crater wall collapse
|
10 Sep 1914
|
Whakaari/White Island
|
No bodies found.[64][65]
|
10[66]
|
Husky and Argo lost to storm in yacht race
|
shipwrecks
|
21 Jan 1951
|
between Wellington and Christchurch
|
|
10[67]
|
Aspiring Air Britten-Norman Islander, collided with terrain
|
air crash
|
8 Aug 1989
|
Upper Dart Valley
|
|