Mt Pelee Martinique

When Mt. Pelee exploded on the Caribbean island of Martinique in 1902, it killed 29,000 people and destroyed the entire city of St. Pierre. The residents had been watching the volcano shoot steam and sulfurous fumes into the air for several days, but on May 8, Pelee finally went in a terrifying display. Witnesses on ships just off its coast described a sudden massive mushroom cloud, filled with fiery hot ash and volcanic gases, consuming the island in seconds. Only two people survived the explosion, one of them a prisoner in a jail cell who was saved by his poorly ventilated, cavernlike accommodations. Sometimes your curse is your salvation.