Author: ACCIDENT
Title: Terrible Accident on the Ice in Regent's Park, and Loss of 40 Lives.
Description: H. Disley, printer, 1867. Broadside poem, 250 x 175 mm. Rare, held by BL and NLS only. "The UK's worst ever frozen lake disaster happened in Regent's Park on January 15, 1867 when around 200 people ice-skating on the frozen boating lake were plunged into freezing cold water after the ice broke. When the rescue operation came to an end a staggering 40 people had died from hypothermia or drowning, the worst weather-related accident in the nation's history at the time. Perhaps the most galling thing about this tragedy is that it had been foreseeable. During an exceptionally cold winter many areas of open water in the capital had frozen over. The dangers were made clear on January 14 though when the ice broke and 21 people were dropped into the nearly 4m deep frozen waters, fortunately all of them rescued safely. Despite this warning though, when the ice refroze overnight another 500 people returned to skate on the lake the day after, leading to the tragedy. Around 2,000 people were also in attendance watching the skaters when the accident happened at 3.30pm with an audible crack as the ice gave way, many attempting to rescue those in the water with tree branches and boats. After the disaster, the lake was drained and re-profiled with its depth reduced to just 1.2m to avoid a similar incident ever happening again." see www.mylondon.news

Keywords: Ephemera


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