If you loose two engines during takeoff, on anything short of a B-52 you're probably going to have a really bad day - the extra engine(s) just mean you have slightly more control over where you're going to crash.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_A...entry_accident
If having more than two engines made the aircraft inherently safer, you'd expect to see that in the fatal hull loss statistics. Yet the 747-400 rate is more than twice what it is for the 757, 767, 777, or A330 (and you don't even want to ask about the MD-11).