The Volcano That Wiped Out 30,000 People in 3 Minutes

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]In 1902, 30,000 people lived peacefully in Saint Pierre, Martinique. Three minutes later, only two were still alive. Mount Pelée had been rumbling for weeks. Ash rained down daily. Animals fled the island, but politicians ignored every warning. An election was coming.

[00:00:17]They couldn't let people evacuate. On May 8th, the mountain exploded. A superheated cloud of [music] gas and rock raced down at 400 miles per hour.

[00:00:25]It incinerated everything in its path.

[00:00:27]An entire city gone. Only a prisoner in an underground cell and a shoemaker survived the deadliest volcanic [music] disaster in history.