 thumb|the neighborhood of roombeek on fire. the enschede fireworks disaster (known in the netherlands as the vuurwerkramp meaning "fireworks disaster") was a catastrophic fireworks explosion occurring at the se fireworks depot on 13 may 2000, in the eastern dutch city of enschede. the fire led to an enormous explosion which killed 23 people including four firefighters, and injured 947.firework disaster enschede 13 may 2000 400 homes were destroyed and 1500 buildings damaged. the first explosion had a strength in the order of 800&nbsp;kg tnt equivalence, while the strength of the final explosion was within the range of 4000â5000&nbsp;kg tnt.t. bedford, p. h. a. j. m. van gelder, 2003, "safety and reliability: proceedings of the esrel 2003 european safety and reliability conference", p.1688 the biggest blast was felt up to  from the scene. se fireworks was a major importer of fireworks from china and supplier to pop concerts and major festive events in the netherlands. prior to the disaster it had a good safety record and met all safety audits. dutch television interrupted transmission of the eurovision song contest 2000 midway through the programme, to show breaking news coverage. dutch telephone voting in the contest was also suspended to free up capacity for the emergency services communications. ==damage== a 40 hectare (100 acres, or 0.4 square kilometre) area around the warehouse was destroyed by the blast. volkskrant.nl around 400 houses were destroyed, 15 streets incinerated and a total of 1,500 homes were damaged, leaving 1,250 people homeless â essentially obliterating the neighbourhood of roombeek. ten thousand residents were evacuated, and damages eventually exceeded â¬450 million. nd.nl ==cause== it appeared that the fire began in the work area of the central building where some 900&nbsp;kg of fireworks were stored. this fire then extended to two full containers that had been stored illegally outside of the building. the fireworks bunker ignition caused the explosion of 177 tons of fireworks,[http://www.nrc.nl/w2/lab/enschede/010323-b.html online oosting zag iets over het hoofd in ensc
2000_fires 2000_in_the_Netherlands 2000_industrial_disasters 20th-century_explosions Enschede Filmed_accidental_deaths Fires_in_the_Netherlands Industrial_fires_and_explosions