American Reacts to 10 SADDEST Live British TV Tragedies!!

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Hey I'm JT Kelly! Im just some youtuber from a small town in Kentucky who makes reaction videos, vlogs, pranks, fun challenges and a whole lot more! The main purpose of this channel is to Spread love and happiness throughout the world! So if you want to have a good laugh and listen to my country accent everyday Subscribe and watch my weird life unfold!

[@francesthompson593]

Tommy Cooper was an icon of British Comedy. I saw this happen on the TV as it was happening! Everyone thought it was part of the show. He was a very funny man RIP Tommy Cooper😢

[@neilreilly3966]

yeah I remember it happening live as well, I'd say it is one of the reasons why we don't have live tv now or at least delayed for a few minutes

[@lesleymitcheson8439]

I was watching that too and knew something had happened

[@TheSarahlou]

I was a kid watching that and my dad said it's fine he'll be back on soon xx

[@michaelbarnes8912]

I watched it live on TV. So sad . British icon 😢

[@tonycowin]

@@lesleymitcheson8439 I was laughing when I watched it as I thought it was Tommy being Tommy. It wasn't until I realized my dad had stopped laughing that I knew something was wrong. I felt guilty about that as a kid.

[@pokebox4833]

The "stay put" advice is based on the idea that each apartment is built in a self-contained way that limits the fire to one room. By leaving, all the doors are opened for the fire to spread. Ever since Grenfell happened, government ministers & the media (all of whom have massive financial interests in poorly built property) have tried to deflect blame onto the firefighters for the stay put advice, but if the building had been built and maintained the way it should have been by law, then it would have been good advice. *P.s The same goes for the Bradford Stadium fire, which should 100% be in the top 3 of this list since the whole thing was broadcast live (it's even on KZbin) and 56 people died. Another needless fire tragedy caused by greedy cost-cutting.

[@nigelanscombe8658]

I was surprised not to see the Bradford fire mentioned. As soon as I saw Hillsborough I was expecting to see it.

[@charlestaylor9424]

The building was fine until they wrapped it in flammable plastic.

[@JaEDLanc]

Boring into gas pipes to steal fuel didn’t help much either.

[@pokebox4833]

@@charlestaylor9424 The flammable plastic was the major spreader, but the building was far from fine apart from that. 64% of the fire doors didn't close properly, the windows were set in cheap plastic so they melted at 50 degrees (which was the reason the cladding could set fire in the first place), and the building didn't even have the legally required "wet main" pipe that allows firefighters to access water in the top floors. *Also no sprinklers because of a loophole that made buildings built before 2007 exempt.

[@daisysunshine1324]

We had a smaller incident with similar issues where my best friend lives. A guy on the top (3rd) floor fell asleep with a candle left lit. Anyway it caused a big fire in his flat, smoke damage to the flats next door because of some kind of gap at the bottom of the walls and the door and window frames melted. People on the lower floors had to run out of the doors and along the walkway with melting plastic dripping down on them. I do know the guy was charged and went to prison for a while because of it. But I don’t know exactly what the charges were. Thankfully only the ground floor had external cladding & it wasn’t affected.

[@ricequin]

I recommend looking up Glasgow comedy legend Billy Connolly talking about the Glasgow Airport attack. There was a baggage handler who became something of a hero in Scotland because he physically attacked the man who had set himself on fire and was trying to hurt people.

[@garibaldi54]

I expected them to show his interview.

[@charlestaylor9424]

The baggage handler kicked the terrorist in the balls so hard he broke a bone in his foot.

[@RighAlban]

One of the funniest statements about it was from Craig Ferguson later repeated by Frankie Boyle, "terrorists trying to bring religious hatred to Glasgow, you're 400 years behind and you don't even have your own football team."

[@coreldorn3653]

The madness that Glaswegian bystanders witnessed a terrorist attack, saw a man on fire and thought... I need to batter him...

[@aliceangel03]

booted him in the balls

[@karlbalshaw9127]

The upside (if can be called that) the Scottish behavior was to fight the man on fire so he cant do any more damage, kudos to the tenacity of the Scottish !!

[@JacknVictor]

Tommy cooper dying was tragic. I remember watching it as a kid I was about 6. But the fact JT said Tommy Cooper's catchphrase "just like that" while discussing his death was pretty funny. Lol.

[@geoffsmith1479]

I was 12 when Tommy died on stage and I was watching it with my parents and we all laughed as he fell backwards, clutching the curtain and making this strange gurgling noise because it was exactly the kind of random thing he'd do in his act. Then you saw the body being dragged away and realised something was up. Still haunts me to this day, 40 years later that I was laughing at him while he died.

[@JacknVictor]

@@geoffsmith1479 same. My mum dad and everyone thought it was just him doing his act, because as you say, that was Tommy's kind of humour but yeah, seeing a man in the last seconds of his life die on stage, as a country, pretty shocking and devastating even almost 40 years on. And as he was known by everyone and a much loved entertainer, it made it that bit more tragic. Quite a few stars have died doing the job they loved, Eric Morecambe springs to mind. It's definitely the gurgling noise and the hand behind the curtain dragging him off that sticks in my mind.

[@davebirch1976]

​@@geoffsmith1479if he'd been asked how he'd like to go, I'm sure he'd have said "on stage making people laugh"

[@jollybodger]

@@geoffsmith1479 Shouldn't let that haunt you, I'm certain Tommy Cooper would be happy that he died making people laugh. It's incredibly tragic and I understand why you'd feel the way you do, but if he could, he'd assure you that if he had to go, thats the way he wanted.

[@neilstothard]

The Hillsborough tragedy is something that I'll never forget, as a 13yr old Liverpool fan at the time I was watching the match live and remember there being a commotion at the Liverpool end nobody realised what was happening at first an then the players noticed something wasn't right and play stopped, following the disaster the families of those that lost their lives spent years fighting for justice.

[@englisheagle]

I saw on live tv the Bradford city fire on tv watching people burn alive

[@michaelmckenna3333]

I'm 53 now, I was there in that end and I'm still in treatment. We've never had true justice JFT97 YNWA ❤

[@neilstothard]

@englisheagle I didn't witness and can not even begin to contemplate the effect it had on your self and others that did ❤️

[@neilstothard]

@michaelmckenna3333 my thoughts are with you. JFT97 YNWA❤️

[@user-xw9nu5hr3b]

Yes i was watching that too. I’m not a football fan but I was visiting my grandma and she had it on. It was terrible to watch but impossible to look away.

[@vomgrady]

Grenfell was horrific. In council flats in Britain it has always been the advice for residents to stay put during a fire in a flat because the blocks were quite fire resistant or at least for wouldn't spread easily. Also it would keep the residents out of the stairwells so the fire brigade could access the apartments. The problem was when the council gave flats a cheap facelift using substandard materials and fitting. The Cladding on the exterior went up in minutes spreading across the whole block.

[@utha2665]

We have a building in Perth Western Australia cladded in the same material, it is currently being removed and refurbished. It's been going on for months now.

[@vomgrady]

@@utha2665 That's hard. First to know that it is a potential threat and then the huge upheaval when it is removed and possibly re-clad. I feel for you. I can tell you from a bit of experience of it the peace of mind and the silence after its done is immense. Hang on in there.

[@04williamsl]

@@utha2665 There's flat near me in the north east of England that have this same cladding. Nothing's been done about it, because the people who built the flats (built about 10-15 years ago) are refusing to replace it, and are insisting the owners of the flats should pay. The owners meanwhile are stating they original builders should pay. The flats are worthless whilst the cladding is on as they're a fire risk, so the owners can't sell up. But to fix it, each owner needs to pay £25,000 apparently (pre-pandemic figures, so could now be higher really).

[@Kyle_Hubbard]

Wouldn't catch me saying in a flat while the fire alarms are going off. I don't trust anyone with my life while I'm healthy and at which point that I'm not then I have to place my care in to the hands of a professional. If I'm dying it, dying knowing I tried to escape.

[@vomgrady]

@@Kyle_Hubbard I don't think there were many or any alarms.

[@brummieinbristol522]

the worst thing about Grenfell was that the block was in one of the wealthiest boroughs in the country. the cladding was added as the richer residents complained that the building was ugly. the council which owned the block, Westminster (i think) chose the cheapest cladding available which was known to be unsuitable. the council had plenty of money to spend and did not need to skimp. they also failed to install sprinklers and proper fire doors. when the fire broke out the cladding combusted and acted as a chimney drawing the fire ever higher up the building. the fire service advised people to stay put because normally the correct fire doors correctly fitted would have kept them safe for several hours. there were also insufficient fire exits etc. compounding it all was it was late at night and families with small children and disabled residents were housed on the higher floors which made their evacuation all but impossible. the council's reactions to the disaster were awful and totally inadequate. as many of the residents were from minority communities no prizes for guessing why. the residents deserved so much better. young children died as well as adults. they died because the millionaires on the council wanted to avoid spending money on their safety. the government were not much better. as you can tell, this disaster has affected so many people and many of the problems highlighted are yet to be addressed. the best memorial for these people would be that this never happens again and the bastards responsible get what they deserve.

[@eccehomer8182]

The Bradford City FC fire should be on this list. I saw it on Grandstand and watched people who were on fire running on to the pitch... 56 people died. Similarly the Hysel Stadium disaster was broadcast live... 39 people died during that. So... Watch Mojo decided to open up with Anthea Turner getting a bit singed? FFS!

[@jacquimaclennan3254]

I remember the Bradford City FC fire. Damned if I know why I was watching Grandstand but I remember the people starting to run on to the pitch - the fire spread so fast 🥺🥺

[@eccehomer8182]

@@jacquimaclennan3254 Yeah it was frightening how fast it went from a bit of smoke to the whole stand being a raging inferno.

[@jacquimaclennan3254]

@@eccehomer8182 Wasn’t it started by a dropped cigarette end or match? No-one realised what was happening until the fire started spreading. Didn’t the government change the law after that? Any club that had wooden stands had to tear them down and replace them.

[@eccehomer8182]

@@jacquimaclennan3254 Yeah, the person who dropped it tried to put it out with some coffee but when it reignited he reported it to a steward, so why the turnstyles weren't unlocked immediately beggar belief. Added to this there were no fire extinguishers in the stand. Concerns had also been raised long beforehand about the amount of rubbish that had collected underneath the stand and that's what was set alight by the cigarette end. Complete negligence in my book and a complete wonder how no one received a prison sentence for it.

[@Cleow33]

Bradford City should have been up there instead of Anthea Turners hair catching fire with a firework. Watched both Bradford and Liverpool disasters live and both were absolutely horrifying.

[@mr.awsumyt1019]

I appreciate you exploring some of Britain's darkest news stories JT. You are a natural entertainer but know how to be respectful. Great vid 👍

[@lanspectre3417]

The Glasgow Airport one resulted in a quite amusing interview with one of the airport workers who had fought off one of the terrorists, in which he advised "this is Glasgow, we'll set about ye" basically saying what's a terrorist thinking coming here, we'll kick their head in

[@pontinrob]

You should watch the documentary on the Hillsborough disaster it changed English Football forever, the 97 will never be forgotten and thankfully the country learned from this tragedy.

[@HolyFreakinDragonSlayer]

❤

[@anthonycullen]

Watching that documentary was hard God Bless the 97.

[@Mr.PDF_File]

Do NOT use the S*n newspaper as a source!

[@peterbrown1012]

There was another football disaster before that when a discarded cigarette fell through the stand floor and ignited rubbish underneath it, it was caught on TV as the match was being broadcast, people lost their lives with the iconic scene of one fan escaping on to the pitch engulfed in flames.

[@catherinesmalley8587]

​@@peterbrown1012- that was Bradford City stadium I think...

[@johnbaldock6353]

4:38 Last night (13/7) the first police officers on the scene at that lake were give awards for bravery for jumping into the lake and trying to break the ice with their bare hands trying to save the boys, risking their own lives. 🇬🇧❤️😢

[@c_n_b]

Can you imagine any of our worthless police doing that these days?? 🤣

[@jinxvrs]

@@c_n_b As it only happened in December 2022, I don't think the police response would be any different six months later.

[@andrewwiltshire3212]

It was only a few months ago, you muppet!@@c_n_b

[@SimuDan]

The fact that JT used the words “just like that” when talking about Tommy Coopers passing was obviously not intentional, but low key memorialised Cooper.

[@dawnwilson110]

The unintended irony of JT's "just like that" on the Tommy cooper death.

[@garibaldi54]

lol.

[@lesleylouiseboak1651]

I was thinking the same I didn't see it personally as it was a bit before my time, but my mom mentioned it a few hundred times, she said she remembers him saying just like that before falling down laughing he kept trying to get up while still laughing not sure if she was their or saw it on TV but she said she remembered the curtins comming down then it was announced he had passed away

[@taranicole8218]

telling the people to stay put when there’s a fire was actually the right thing to do, normally. as usually any fire wouldn’t have spread as viciously to reach the other floors. but due to the flammable cladding, the fire climbed up the outside of the building rapidly. if the cladding wasn’t flammable, it’s likely the fire would have only been secluded to one or two floors.

[@ChimpManZ1264]

And it was only the bottom two floors the crew could only reach. Anyone above had to wait it out and all the crew could do was make sure surrounding buildings weren't affected by any falling debris.

[@gerardpeterbrennan]

One flat, not 1 or 2 floors. I live in a tower block, on the 9th floor. A few years ago my neighbour left his frying pan on the heat while he took his dog outside. By the time he returned his flat was an inferno. I was literally next door, with a shared wall between the kitchens. I heard the fire alarms go off but didn't realise how bad it was. I looked out my front door and saw nothing so I stayed where I was. 3 fire engines turned up and put the fire out. It never spread outside that one flat and did no damage at all to my flat although my neighbour's flat was completely destroyed. But then we have proper, legal cladding not this cheap dangerous stuff they had.

[@Adrian-kj3uc]

There were firewalls and dividers in place to protect other residents from the fire but the cladding just bypassed all of those

[@markwolstenholme3354]

​@@gerardpeterbrennanSame here in my 11 storey block. One flat one fire nobody else was affected.

[@101steel4]

It wasn't the cladding as such, as its less flammable than wood and there's wood everywhere in buildings. It was the fact some residents removed the internal fire doors.

[@riverraven7359]

John smeaton, the baggage handler at the Glasgow airport, saw what was happening and ran in to beat the crap out of the suicide bomber. Real hero , right there. The Grenfell fire was a disgusting case showing just how unsafe council shortcuts were and forced a national policy change to re-surface other tower blocks that had similar cladding.

[@annamae859]

JT I used to live in Ladbroke Grove near Notting Hill close to Grenfell Tower. I knew people who lived in the tower one of whom died the others thankfully survived. I can assure you it was not the faulty fridge that took the lives of the 72 residents, but rather cost cutting by the owners if the building. It was Noel long before the fire that the building was poorly maintained and the smoke alarms and fire doors did not function properly, it was an accident waiting to happen. The was only one staircase in the building, that was the only fire escape, the stairwells were very quickly filled with thick toxic smoke. Unless you were actually there, you couldn't begin to imagine how fast the building went up in flames. Sadly I was there and it will live with me forever 💔

[@gemgwilliam]

Grenfell happened on my dad's birthday, I remember it every year. As they were council flats, a large proportion of the residents were poor & families. As of last July (5 years later) noone has been held legally or criminally responsible. At least a dozen firefighters at the scene now have rare cancers as a direct result of the cladding material burning.

[@jennigee51]

May I suggest? Search Hillsborough disaster, and see what actually happened, he really skirted over a lot of that, it actually took over 30 years to get justice for both Liverpool soccer fans and victims !! I worked for the local radio station when this happened, thousands of people phoned in, some with heart breaking stories, it was dreadful! I cried when I heard the news of boys in the lake, it was so incredibly sad!!

[@kydunjam9352]

I have to say hearing her saying about the 3 boys again made me tear up such a sad sad event it happens every Yr here in England were not cold enough for the ice to be thick enough to walk on but small children are unaware we need to educate our children of the dangers of going near water in winter

[@nicolahocking5981]

I'm a lifelong Liverpool fan. My mum and her side of the family are scousers. One of my cousins was in the stadium. Thankfully he was one of lucky ones who got out safely. The so called newspaper that blamed the fans isn't sold in most places in Liverpool now

[@hannukah812]

Gutter press. Can’t believe they are still going

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

Tommy Cooper was a legend of British comedy. The sad thing is, because he did so much slapstick, the audience just thought it was part of the act. As for the Hillsborough disaster and the Grenfell Tower fire, both of those tragedies ended up causing huge changes in the way the police and fire departments deal with disasters. Hillsborough in particular led to huge and lengthy official inquiries and court cases.

[@reluctantheist5224]

I know we were laughing initially , I wasn't quite 9. I was waiting for the big laugh which never came...

[@francesthompson593]

It missed out the 144 children and School staff that died in 1965 in Aberfan , Wales when a Coal Tip Avalanche occurred. The school was covered😢

[@eccehomer8182]

Lots more besides. the Bradford City FC fire, the Hysel Stadium disaster, both shown live on TV, numerous road and rail accidents as well. Apparently, Anthea Turner getting a bit singed is one of the UK's worst tragedies.

[@littleannie390]

These are incidents that happened live on television. The Aberfan disaster didn’t happen on live tv and reporters only arrived after rescue efforts had already started.

[@DebraElias-uc6yz]

They missed it out because it did mot happen live on TV

[@gillianhynes7120]

I can remember watching the parents digging to get to the children.

[@francesthompson593]

It was a misprint it should read 1966!

[@sueKay]

I was working in Glasgow on the day of the airport attack. I saw all the specialist fire appliances barrel down the street I worked on, but never heard a thing about the attack. Even on the way home I didn't hear anything, so I got a shock when I put the TV on later. I flew out of Glasgow airport only a week or so after that, and you could still smell burning and see where it had happened. The craziest thing about the attackers was that they were doctors at one of our biggest hospitals. I can't even look at pictures of Grenfell, it's just horrific. My earliest memory is escaping a fire when I was a baby. The upstairs neighbours torched their flat as part of an insurance scam (yes they went to jail). I don't think I was more than 18 months old but the memory is still so vivid. If the cladding on Grenfell had been adequate, the fire would probably have been contained to only the apartment with the faulty fridge, due to the construction of the building, but the local council's decision to use cheap, nasty cladding (that the residents had already complained about many times...) turned the block into a death trap.

[@makaveliuk86]

And that cladding had only been put up for the benefit of the wealthy neighbourhoods that could see it(Kensington and Chelsea),god forbid people with money have to be reminded of the poverty on their doorstep....😡😑

[@dansegelov305]

The 'stay put' order is the standard practice here in the UK. Our buildings are designed to resist the spread of fire and even our internal doors are rated on the amount of time it takes for a fire to penetrate them. The idea is that opening doors and windows to escape just provides more oxygen for the fire, causing it to burn faster and in a building like Grenfell, 300 panicking people running down smoke-filled staircases will only lead to more injuries and deaths. By staying put and keeping doors and windows closed, you give time for the fire service to arrive and deal with the fire. It works exceptionally well... usually. Unfortunately, Grenfell was badly, and cheaply renovated, and the external cladding (which should have been fire resistant if fitted correctly,) caught fire and spread the flames up the building.

[@AndrewHalliwell]

“They didn’t cancel it? They kept on with the episode?” It was live, not recorded and broadcast later

[@ChimpManZ1264]

Although not televised another example of theatre where death occurred during a live performance was British Comedian actor Sidney James who was performing in Sunderland. Much like Tommy Cooper in his case he was on a sofa when he wasn't saying his line.The audience thought it was the material but the supporting actors realised something was wrong. A doctor was in the audience, came on stage and confirmed he was dead. It was later confirmed to be a heart attack.

[@daisysunshine1324]

I loved Sid James, but I didn’t know that. Probably because I rarely watched tv back then. That’s awful.

[@fairycherub1]

I didn't know that 😮

[@vahvahdisco]

The reason why the fire brigade told people to stay put is because in tower blocks, the flats are built in a way that protects the occupants. Should one of them catch fire, it is self contained within its boundaries. The problem with this tower block was that it had had cladding fitted with a flammable foam filling for insulation, to the outside of the building. When the fire from the flat broke the windows and the flames hit this foam, it ignited and spread up the whole of the building on the outside, breaking windows with the heat and decimating other flats. I watched this live on television and was in tears. I too lived in a tower block at the time.

[@Corfield81]

watch the billy conolly take on the glasgow attack its so funny

[@shaunrye7740]

I remember Tommy Cooper dying. It was a huge loss. However. It would be interesting to see your reaction to his routines. He was so so funny

[@cnllckr]

Still laugh at his content - doesn't ever stop being funny

[@mike5d1]

Theory behind telling people to stay in their flats/apartment was base on the idea that each separate residence was self contained and fire should not spread from one to another. But at Grenfell Tower the fire spread throughout the building because of combustible outer wall cladding.

[@louiseglasgow]

When things are built according to building regulations for tall buildings, the safest thing normally is to stay put, because they are built to avoid fire spreading (as there are no fire trucks with ladders that long etc). But the problem was that these weren't insulated with the right materials, so instead of the fire staying in one flat/one floor, it spread along the cladding on the outside of the building.

[@VillianousKitty]

Grenfell was a travesty... I remember watching when it happened and the screams still haunt me... Thanks for showing these lad, they're important to us here

[@susangarvey9415]

I dunno what made me cry more, those dear little boys on the icy lake, Hillsborough or Grenfell, these get me every time I'm reminded of it, a few other tragedies popped into my head too😢

[@pauldanks9878]

That was Jenny Powell at the end of the UP2U clip not Anthea Turner. I liked that Jenny said Anthea had gone to have a cup of tea, typically British response to anything going wrong!

[@stephenlee5929]

Hi JT, In a tall building fire, if the building is properly built and maintained, standard advice is to stay in your flat/apartment. The reasons are: the fire fighters will be on the stairs, so you wont be able to pass them and will slow their efforts. the stair well will be full of smoke, you probably wont be able to get passed. the unit you are in should be fire proof for a given length of time, the fire fighters should be aware of that time and able to get to you in that time. not everyone in the building will be able to get out by themselves, its easier to rescue everyone rather than search for those that could not get themselves out. as you leave you have to open doors, doing so causes a draught, which allows the fire extra air. Note this was also the advice in the world trade centre.

[@davebirch1976]

If I remember rightly some of the fire doors at Grenfell were faulty and propped open which didn't help matters.

[@stephenlee5929]

@@davebirch1976 True, so many faults, but JT seemed shocked at the stay in your home advice. Advice that feels wrong, but in a properly built and maintained building would be good, although I doubt anyone will be following such advice currently, which is a problem as the buildings are designed with this advice in mind.

[@davebirch1976]

@@stephenlee5929 I suppose stay in your home is going against your natural instincts if there's danger.

[@vjaska]

As someone who has lived in several tower blocks in London and been involved in a fire where the flat below caught fire and I was at risk of death, Grenfell will always be the worst disaster. Not only was the cladding at fault but I was not surprised to learn about the inability to stop letting tower blocks deteriorate by councils just because they house poor people and/or immigrants, it goes right back to the 70's & also Thatcher's time in particular - the same happened on my estate only thankfully, it didn't lead to any major incidents and two of the three blocks left to rot where demolished for newer blocks (the third was heavily refurbished)

[@tarantulagirl666]

Must be terrifying being stuck above a fire in a tower block. My auntie lives in a pretty big block of nice apartments in Liverpool overlooking the ferry terminal..A few years ago, 2 teenagers managed to get into the unattended lobby during the night and set the Christmas tree on fire. It went up like a bonfire and for some reason the fire alarms and sprinklers didn't work. Luckily someone who lives opposite saw the flames and called the fire brigade

[@stevetheduck1425]

Corruption between government ministers, local councils and building firms in Britaingoes back way before the 1970s. Firms involved in the constructio and repair of damaged buildings during WWII is a major souce of corruption, with the demolishing of buildings against the owner's wishes long after WWII, because the records show a window was broken by a bomb (fora simple example). Tower blocks and their shoddy construction were spoofed by the Monty Python comedians AT THAT time, and TV shows like 'The Avengers', 'CI5: The Professionals', and some cop shows often deal with (for example), older construction firm owners being murdered because a government minister is being promoted, and the construction firm owner 'had something on him'. It's a thread that runs through most cop and so on shows in Britain. It's the equivalent of Tr**p and his first wife fighting over their son being covered by an episode of 'The Equalizer' back in the late 1980s. Or the 1980s film 'Mannequin' being about a rich b*****d wanting to demolish a department store to build a tower with his name on the top. Also T***p.

[@TheMeerkat2323]

Out of those 10 incidents, I watched 2 of them on tv. I was 11 years old and vividly remember watching Tommy Cooper's act, he was my favourite magician at the time as his act always consisted of the tricks going wrong, him getting a huge laugh and then making it go right, but when his assistant brought on that huge cloak and buttoned it all up, he just collapsed on the stage as if it was far too heavy and everyone in the theatre, and I'm sure the tens of millions who like me were watching it at home roared with laughter, the timing was superb, then quite quickly the tv channel went to an advert break which was a lot longer than normal, and the program never came back on that evening. I like to think that he died there and then with the sound of laughter sending him on his way. The second one I watched live was when I was 14 years old, I turned the tv on to hopefully watch my team, Liverpool, beat Nottingham Forest and make it to the FA Cup final, at first, like everyone I suppose, I never had a clue what was going on, all I could see were tons of Liverpool fans encroaching the pitch, and then eventually streaming onto it. When the referee blew his whistle to stop play and send the players off the pitch, I remember the Forest fans were chanting anti Liverpool things, they clearly didn't know or appreciate what was happening either, but credit to them, once they saw and could feel what was going on, they immediately stopped the chants and those that could, tried to help get the injured Liverpool fans away from any more danger. When the semi final was eventually played, it had a very sombre atmosphere and mood, thankfully Liverpool won that match and made it to the final, where they met their great city rivals Everton, now they may be fierce rivals when it comes to their clubs, but both sets of fans know that the city of Liverpool is most important, and they came together, the players and supporters, to pay respect to those who never came back home from Hillsborough alive, once the game started, the rivalry was back in full force, and rather fittingly and being the best tribute to those who never made it home from Hillsborough, Liverpool won the final and the FA Cup

[@SeanONeill-ef5vb]

I'm surprised that there is no mention of the Bradford City fire disaster. The football game between Bradford City and Lincoln City was shown live on TV to celebrate Bradford's promotion. A small fire started in one of the stands before the whole stand was an inferno. All on live TV. Over 50 people perished. Sad thing was the cheers and the chanting of the fans as the stand was burning.

[@lyncohn9505]

The match was never shown live. The camera was there because the team were receiving the trophy

[@michelle-io9dc]

I'm surprised the Bradford City stadium fire didn't get a mention, 56 died in horrific circumstances

[@ricequin]

It’s weird that their narrator thought “UP2U” wasn’t pronounced as up to you.

[@vomgrady]

There were a lot of faults in his script too.

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

It took me a few " to recognise UP2U 2! But then, I'm LXXIII. 😂

[@davidfoster8318]

In my defense, it was capitalised in the script and I'd all but forgotten the show (being XXXVI), so I just said it how I thought it was and forgot to come back to it later.

[@vomgrady]

@@davidfoster8318 Fair enough. Also The Late Late Breakfast show was a Saturday night bit of telly. Not morning. But it's all cool.

[@davidfoster8318]

@@vomgrady ah, that one I blame the writer for!

[@delphihaze1317]

That was by far the saddest video you have posted. The tears were streaming during the story about the children. Also,I remember being in hospital with my mum and laying on the bed with her whilst we watched the smoke from Grenfell drift across. It was a few months before she died,so that brought back some memories. On a much lighter note: love the Metallica t-shirt. They're one of my favourite bands.

[@RickyT15]

A similar heart attack situation happened on WWE when Jerry Lawyer had a heart attack live on show at the commentary table, though he managed to get help and survived.

[@Maerahn]

I'm old enough to remember that moment with Tommy Cooper. It was during the Royal Variety Performance - an annual event held at a famous London theatre and attended by royalty, that was also televised. He just sort of sunk to his knees and slumped in a heap with his head bowed, making these faint noises like he was snoring. The live audience there was laughing, thinking it was all part of the act, and then the title card came up for those of us watching on tv and there was a hard cut to commercials. By the time they were over, and the show came back on and continued with some other act entirely, most of guessed something wasn't right, and the tv network was swamped with calls from concerned viewers asking what the heck had happened. His death was announced on the national news soon afterwards.

[@madabbafan]

It wasn't during the Royal Variety. It was an episode of the series 'Live from Her Majesty's' but yes they closed the stage curtains and the programme continued with the rest of the acts performing infront of the closed currains

[@kevanwillis4571]

The people were told to stay in Grenfell Tower to allow the firemen to tackle the fire without hindrance on stairs. The initial fire was thought to have been dealt with as a routine incident. What wasn't known was the substandard insulation behind the exterior cladding had began to burn unseen by everyone. Tragic.

[@richt71]

The stay put advice for grenfell residents should have been correct with fire doors etc but unfortunately the fire spread between floors via the combustible cladding on the outside of the building. The aftermath of that fire is still dragging on over 5 years later!

[@scouser97]

This (Hillsborough) is why us scousers hate the establishment and that particular excuse for a newspaper with a passion!!!

[@nickgrazier3373]

The tragedy with the Grenfell tower fire was actually the outside cladding, which once it had caught fire continued to spread on the outside of the building and then break back into the building elsewhere even after after the original refrigerator fire was put out. The cladding apparently was recommended as being safe and efficient for the cladding job, they made a mistake in approving it. Later it was found out that it was used in quite a number of other similar buildings in various other places. Cheers Aah Kid!!

[@mama_bex8468]

I had to watch it as part of my fire training at work😢 I also remember the Kings Cross disaster x

[@911damian]

It wasnt so much the fridge, but the cheqp cladding and insulation the council used

[@DUNFERMLINEBOY1]

I was watching Tommy Cooper the night that he died on Live From Her Majesty's! Yes you are right it was in front of a Live Audience at Her Majesty's theatre in London and was being broadcast live on the ITV network so millions (literally) of us saw him collapse that night and it took producers a wee bit of time before they realised what had happened and they brought the back of the curtain over him and as was said it cut straight to the adverts! It was so quick that his death was announced on the ITV news immediately after the programme finished! He had been rushed to hospital and I believe declared DOA If memory serves Donny Osmond had starred on the show that night! I should hasten to add I was only 13 at the time and watching it alone in my bedroom on old black and white tv

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

If I remember correctly, you shed a little tear whilst watching the "most effective tv ads" too. Men crying is ok today, JT, even in Kentucky. 😢

[@essexraver1]

Yes because each flat should have been a self contained unit and there designed so if 1 flat becomes on fire the fire should not have spread but because the cheap cladding used the fire spread thro that into the other flats

[@mathiasosiriswoodhal]

remember all but one im surprised Bradford city football fire was not on this list that was bad too

[@laurajarvis3156]

Aww that old bbc spinning globe reminds me of my 80s childhood

[@robertclark2253]

The Glasgow attack was just 2 days after the London bus bombings on the 7 of July 2007 . The Glasgow attack was the first terrorist attack in Scotland since the Lockerbie bombing which took down a jumbo jet and several houses in the village of Lockerbie in 1988 .

[@EggLordTobias]

It's a common thread between fire disasters that loss of life can be attributed to the cost cutting in fire safety and construction.

[@Gomorragh]

Tommy Cooper - probably the way he wanted to go, "Just like that!" (you will have to watch his stuff to understand that) Glasgow attack, i think thats the one mentioned by Billy Connelly in one of his sketches. Grenfell - ah yes, they blamed everything from a washing machine (the company did actually do a recall to fix the part that caused this) a fridge, other electrical stuff, yet in the end, it was found out it was cutting corners and costs in recladding the building that meant substandard and by the time they were used, recalled cladding was used on the outside of the building, the council ended up in a massive lawsuit because of it. Also, i cant believe they didnt put 11th september 2001 on here, the 2nd impact was shown live on the BBC news, who was broadcasting the news of the 1st impact. It was live tv and the description was not British tragedies caught on live tv, it was tragedies caught on live british tv, so still fits the title. Oh, Santa Pod raceway seems to have had a bit of a thirst for blood since 1983, especially if the fatal practice of that stunt happened on that dragstrip, as in November it also claimed Allan "Bootsie" Herridge, and Alan Ritmeisters in april 1984 (november being last event in the calendar Bonfire night finale where they did some night racing and april being one of the first events in the year Easter Nationals (i was there for that one, was almost sure i was there for the november too but we left early on the sunday, never knew why)

[@Blancmange64]

How has the Bradford City 1985 fire not made this list... I remember watching it live on telly with my dad, never seen him cry before, so sad........

[@holoxthegreat]

I watched tommy cooper pass away on stage when i was about 6, I remember it to this day. I also watched the Hillsborough disaster on the telly, I have been a Liverpool fan ever since and went to uni with somone who knew some of those no longer with us. The clubs manager Kenny Dalglish went to EVERY funeral

[@2503debora]

You should also checkout the 1987 Bradford City stadium fire. Like Hillsborough it was broadcasted live on National tv. It was just awful watching as a whole football stand went up in flames

[@Shagyamum]

1985 not 1987. But agree that should be on here.

[@esclad]

Grenfell didn't even have sprinklers. The "stay put" rule has now been abolished. The photo's of The Hillsborough Disaster are horrendous.

[@hannukah812]

You should watch a separate video about the Hillsborough tragedy. It’s still to this day one of the worst events that ever happened in the UK

[@fayesouthall6604]

The event a Tragedy the aftermath a horror story. Lies and corruption.

[@hashtag_thisguy]

Stay put is the right thing to do in large blocks. By design fires should be contained in the space/appartment it started, compartmentalised by design to stop the spread to the rest of the block... But because the cladding on the outside caught fire tge internal compartmentalised design could not contain the fire to the flat it started in...

[@robertclark2253]

Similar to Grenfell Tower in 1997 on the housing estate where I live Kerrin Point exploded because of a faulty boiler . Because hardly anyone was home there were no deaths and very few injuries however people are still living in temporary accommodations to this day . Another thing to note there's a Texaco petrol station near the site and if any flaming debris had hit that then who knows what would've happened .

[@flowerpie]

Hillsborough disaster is one of those things from my childhood I will never forget. Human error at it's absolute worst, just horrible.

[@philiprice7875]

i am a scouser and i know from playing poker that you can do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons and fate/murphy, turns it into do-do now Duckenfield did what he thought was right to order the gates opened to get the fans inside, but because of the layout of the ground it went pear shaped, now if he would have said there and then "i messed up" there would have been anger, yes BUT we would have forgave him, BUT and it is a big BUT he lied, and to justify it the south yorkshire police went on a witch hunt trying to disgrace the fans(and even own officers), AND THAT IS WHY WE WILL NEVER FORGET OR FORGIVE for those who say JFT97 remember we are living in Britain those wigged judges dont know meaning of the word

[@MJS-vx3oj]

I remember as a kid the telly was on in the background showing the football when the Bradford stadium disaster happened. It took like two minutes. I remember seeing this one fella on fire.

[@AlmightyCRJ]

You did hear that right & it was once sensible advice. Grenfell Tower was originally designed in a way that fire would be isolated in each apartment/section with a risk of it spreading to a staircase. Staying put works as it will burn itself out or be put out. Then sone dopey sod puts plastic on the outside to make it look nice - all the oils around the tower exterior catch fire resulting the tower now being a large hollow candle. They can't put it out with water because you can't put water on a oil fire. Fireball effect. So with the original orders to stay put, residents die breathing in smoke.

[@markphillips6170]

There was another football stadium disaster back in the 80s which was on TV. I was only about 12 and I remember the Saturday afternoon football show suddenly switching to Bradford where there was a pitch invasion (not uncommon at the time). In reality, the main stand had caught fire - it was made of wood and and the whole thing burnt to the ground in about two minutes with 56 people dead. It was all live and it was utterly horrific. I've never wanted to search for it on KZbin.

[@RobertHeslop]

My dad was working right next to Grenfell at the time and the morning after, he was shaking the hands of the firemen and helping give them bottles of water and sandwiches as they'd worked throughout the night

[@gray_v]

I was 7 years old and I STILL watching Tommy Cooper pass away on stage. I didn’t understand what I was watching at the time but I remember my Mum trying to explain it to me. Very sad.

[@foordy-family3123]

Grenfell tower will always haunt me as it was so recent. I’ll never forget laying in bed scrolling on facebook and seeing the breaking news. Watching that building alight, seeing people throwing their children out of windows for people to catch and jumping to their sure deaths. Seeing the torches flashing from the windows and then going dark. Haunting.

[@elly5740]

there are hundreds of tower blocks in the UK like this the sadest thing is their doing very little to solve it. the tower is still standing today. the reason they were told to stay in is because it started on the bottom at one side at 1:30am and went up and over the whole outside of the building jumping up from balcony to balcony fast due to the flammable material the outside was built with. its so sad

[@may_68]

Funnily enough, because firearms are so uncommon in the UK we often don't recognise them as such in public and don't behave appropriately.

[@danielgardecki1046]

*Bradford Fire Disaster* being ignored as usual, while the *Hillsborough Disaster* gets mentioned. 56 people died, and 100s were injured at *Bradford City AFC's Valley Parade Stadium* on the 11th of May 1985.

[@tonycowin]

Welcome to the Tragedy Olympics. What an invidious comment.

[@danielgardecki1046]

@@tonycowin It's a fact. Would you rather be crushed to death, or burned alive? The answer is obvious, yet it gets ignored constantly, because we accept facts unlike Liverpool, who would never have been crushed in the first place, if 100s of them didn't turn up to Hillsborough without tickets.

[@tonycowin]

@@danielgardecki1046 You're sick. Seek help.

[@onecrazybritishlady9613]

I saw Tommy Cooper when he collapsed on TV when I was young and we all thought it was part of the act but when they cut to the ads, everyone knew there was something wrong. It was later when we were told the tragic news. I forget things from when I was young but that will forever stay in my memory. Same as Hillsborough and all the other tragedies. A shame we often remember stuff for all the wrong reasons.

[@maryavatar]

The Tommy Cooper death was on live TV. I was watching, as was most of the UK. It was a big deal.

[@daisysunshine1324]

‘Live from Her Majesty’s’ was major Saturday night tv if I remember correctly. Back in the dark ages of only 3 or 4 channels. I can’t remember when ch4 opened. It definitely had fantastic ratings.

[@goldenskeptic6309]

I remember the Tommy Cooper death, I watched that live, the audience thought it was part of the show.. 😢😢😢

[@Ross.Cavendish]

The Aberfan disaster was missed. That is when a colliery spoil tip collapsed and engulfed a primary school killing 116 children and 28 adults. The tragedy occurred in Aberfan, south Wales, in October 1966.

[@catherinesmalley8587]

But it wasn't caught live on camera which is why it isn't included here. Such a terrible tragedy though.

[@bradfry5403]

Sid James died like Tommy Copper , he was appearing in a play when he had a heart attack,he was taken out back when someone asked it there was a Doctor in the house everyone started to laugh 😂 thinking it was a part of the play.

[@chrisicotec7652]

that jeep crashing into glasgowq airport had a typically glasgow headline in the new from one of the guys who intervened "i tore a tendon in my foot after kicking a burning terrorist in the balls"

[@thesloaneranger1]

I lived 1 mile from Glasgow Airport at the time of the attack and it was crazy watching the aftermath from my home. My mum was a nurse at the local hospital (RAH, where one terrorist had worked as a doctor) where the burned terrorist went to - A&E was closed as a (fake) suicide belt was found, and due to the possibility of further attacks half the hospital was then evacuated. This was especially important as the ward he was taken to was directly beneath the childrens ward. He was moved to the Royal in Glasgow the next day, and died a few weeks later. The taxi drivers and baggage handler John Smeaton helped stop the terrorists by laying into them (this brought the newspaper headline "I kicked burning terrorist so hard in the balls, I tore a tendon in my foot"!), and became local legends. Smeatos tv interview spurned a whole new saying "This is Glasgow, we'll set about ya", which is still used by folk to this day as a warning lol! As an interesting side note, the section which was damaged by the burning Jeep became the designated smoking area after the repairs had been done lol!

[@Fireglo]

He didn't care because he had nothing to lose. He shot one of the people that took his home away from him who then had the audacity to mock him. He may not have went through with the shot had they not been so cocky and arrogant about it. Moral of the story is don't mess with someone who has nothing to lose.

[@cashkitty3472]

He knowingly illegally built a house thinking he could get away with it. When that didn't happen he got angry and shot at the planning officer and everyone else. He wasn't the victim here

[@Fireglo]

@@cashkitty3472 it was unoccupied land it didn't belong to anyone prior to it being built. Why should the council have the right to own whatever exists that's untouched? Who made them owners of the planet?

[@lettybabesify]

​@@FiregloI thought it was land he owned he just didn't have planning permission. I actually watched the video and he repeatedly warned the planning officer he shot that he would kill him. The planning officer kept taunting him and I believe he was actually told to stay away from him by the council anyway. Its been a while since I saw the documentary on it but I remember thinking it was just sad all round

[@grunge_surf_witch_uk9130]

I remember watching Tommy Cooper I was 8 at the time, my friend was over we all laughed thinking it was part of the show. Then realised something was wrong. 😕 and remember watching Hillsborough disaster my dad was watching the match it was horrible seeing it. A friend of mine said he was there and how terrifying it was!

[@racheluk1759]

I live in Rugby and we had 5 high rise blocks that were only 10 floors high, but after Grenfell, they were all emptied and demolished.

[@Granny_Cat_Lady]

My husband couldn’t watch anything to do with Hillsborough without cry, he was watching it unfold & was traumatised by the entire thing 😢 My hubby was also watching the Tommy Cooper performance & he remembers laughing thinking it was part of the act, but then they closed the curtains & everyone was ushered out! Your comment about people being fine one minute & then gone broke me … I checked on my poorly hubby at 12noon, asked if he wanted a cuppa & he said not at the moment, so I came downstairs & went up at 2pm to find him half in & half out of bed - dead 💔

[@dianef4227]

I had forgotten about the Dryden shooting. It was only a few miles from where I worked at the time

[@zoeadams2635]

I'm surprised that 7/7 wasn't on this list. It was the 18th anniversary of this just over a week ago, and it was basically our 9/11. I'd like for you to do a reaction or two to that, JT. Thank you for being respectful, and for being you ❤️

[@christianbuczko1481]

It was a few bombings, the IRA had been doing that for several decades before and we hadnt had half as much bullshit panicky propaganda from those events. That was before the snowflake revolution when people had balls. The media had become a tool for government control, and its sad the carnage and hatred that has resulted from it.

[@herstoryanimated]

I will never forget seeing that images of that bus

[@christianbuczko1481]

@@herstoryanimated we had far worse in the uk, the time a military horse parade was blown up in london, the time a hotel with the entire government was blown up in brighton, and many more like warrington and docklands bombings. Not to mention the countless bombings in Northern Ireland.

[@herstoryanimated]

@christianbuczko1481 since 2 - 5 people died in each of the other bombings you listed and 56 died in the 7/7 bombings I would say 7/7 was worse. I was also either too young or not born to remember them, I do, however, have the image of that bus ingrained in my psyche. I do remember the fear of being attacked by the IRA, and obviously, any loss of life is always a tragedy.

[@christianbuczko1481]

@@herstoryanimated the IRA killed about 1800 people with over 600 civilians. They were far more common, weekly incidents for nearly 3 decades. We never had mass panic about those which were far more likely to occur unlike the 7/7 attacks which were used by the government and media to spread panic and racism. Your trauma has far more to do with government policy than the bombings themselves.

[@hettyscetty9785]

Some of these things literally stopped the nation in its tracks and showed just how much this country can come together in times of tragedy. I remember Grenfell Tower and watching those people who made it out lose everything. Families being torn from their homes people losing their loved ones. And then others from either nearby or from other parts of London and maybe further afield came and helped them showed the side of people that restored faith in humanity. I also remember the Glasgow Airport attack, it was sort of scary and close to home at the time I was nine years old. I had always heard that Tommy Cooper died 'just like that' but I had never actually seen the footage of it up until now.

[@grahamjackson9007]

Typically in a properly constructed block of flats in the U.K. your safer remaining in your flat and letting the Fire brigade deal with and contain the fire to a single flat. In the case of Grenfield the company who had made the cladding had used materials not allowed to be used in the U.K. but had found a way to defeat the test designed to identify this materials use. The building company that had fitted the cladding had failed to properly fit a number of firebreaks designed to prevent the cladding creating a chimney effect. The combination of these two factors made it impossible for the Fire Brigade to defeat this fire, as soon as they realised that the fire was impossible to tackle they started evacuating as many residence as they could but unfortunately by that time it was to late for many of them.

[@samanthahughes7783]

I was a kid when Tommy cooper died, but I still remember the hand sneaking out of the curtain to touch him and see if he moved. 😢 Also, JT, just like that was one of Tommy’s catchphrases.

[@celine4evauk]

Yep, Tommy Cooper died on live tv. My brother was watching the show upstairs and went down to tell my parents he's just died on tv. So sad. Hillsborough was so tragic - it should never have happened. I've supported Liverpool all my life. Yes, the truth was later admitted - over 30 years later 😡RIP #97

[@Dasyurid]

That one about the wannabe terrorists at Glasgow Airport, if I remember right that was when a bystander decided he wasn’t having burning cars in his city and kicked one of the attackers in the groin so hard that he sprained his ankle. The Scots, eh? Bloody legend. The Grenfell Tower fire disaster with people being told to stay in their flats, yes, surely increased the death toll and it sounds crazy. But I think the reason they gave was that the front doors of all the flats were designed to be highly fire resistant and the intention was for residents to be safer sheltering in place until firefighters arrived unless the fire was actually in their home. Sadly the fire spread from its starting point out the window and up aluminium cladding that had been retrofitted to the tower in recent years. So instead of the fire being in the passageways and residents being safely behind their fire resistant front doors as the designers expected the whole outside of the block was engulfed by flames which entered windows leaving many people trapped with flames and smoke inside and outside their homes. Flammable cladding was a bit of a scandal after that and a hell of a lot of money has been spent removing it from other buildings in case it happens again.

[@christianbuczko1481]

That dude who shot the housing officer DID have permission to build a bungalow on that site, but it had to be less than a foot or 2 high. So he dug a hole and built a normal sized bungalow which he was convinced followed that permissions rules, but the government disagreed. Thats why he went nuts at the planning officer.

[@dianebryan8595]

My brother and I were watching this, laughing hysterically. We were so shocked when we learnt he died . But that is how Tommy copper would have wasted to go, with people laughing!

[@chrisyoung9653]

i remember alot of these. its hard to revisit these memories

[@michaelrowlands855]

As a Liverpool fan I will never forget the Hillsborough disaster, Following on in 2016 we got justice and where not to blame for the disaster despite police and the S*n newspapers lies

[@makaveliuk86]

Na at the start,that was Jenny Powell reporting on Anthea being inadvertently involved in the motorbike stunt, Anthea was already in hospital by then👌🏼💜

[@lynette50]

One of our worst disaster in the UK. Thankfully not on live TV was the Bradford City football disaster. You should watch the videos on that. I had to watch it as part of my UEFA football security training and I cried. It was devastating to watch. At the same time, you see so much heroism from the fans and staff there that day

[@michelle-io9dc]

Whilst it wasn't a televised match I remember World of Sport showing the fire live as it happened. I can remember it to this day, standing in a shop watching it unfold live on TV

[@joemack1965]

@@michelle-io9dc Me too. I was ironing. They were reporting the fire, saying something like "I'm sure everyone got out", when a guy walked onto the pitch, completely on fire, and so calmly. They quickly panned the camera away. They later realised that the turnstiles and fire escapes had been locked. 56 dead, 27 at the fire escapes

[@michelle-io9dc]

@@joemack1965 I can still remember the reporters words at that moment..."Oh that poor poor man"

[@robertmcconnell1009]

@@michelle-io9dc yes, world of sport cut to it...

[@hikingwiththeshackletons]

I remember the Tommy Cooper death on stage, I was ten years old & watching the royal variety performance when it happened. I also remember the Hillsborough disaster, I was again, watching it live on TV in 1989.