Five terrible disasters: which year was the worst in history. The worst disasters in the world The worst disasters on earth

Throughout history, humanity has faced terrible disasters that have claimed countless lives. Below is a list of ten of the strangest and most unusual of them.

Elephant panic in Chandaka forest

In the spring of 1972, the Chandaka region in India was gripped by a terrible drought due to abnormal heat. Local elephants, which usually did not cause problems, were literally going crazy from the high temperatures and lack of water. Residents told authorities that they were afraid to go out into the fields because of the strange behavior of the “giants of the savannah.” Later the situation worsened. On July 10, the elephants, succumbing to an inexplicable panic, took flight and actually completely destroyed 5 villages. 24 people died.

In September 1971, about 90,000 tons of grain arrived at the Iraqi port of Basra. It was American barley and Mexican wheat treated with methyl mercury to slow down rotting. The grain was dyed bright pink and all the bags had a warning message printed on them, but only in English and Spanish. Before the bags were distributed to farmers, they were stolen from the docks and sold to the starving population.

The Iraqi government, fearing outrage over their criminal negligence, covered up the story. Nothing was known about it for almost two years, until an American correspondent found evidence of 6,530 incidents of mercury poisoning. Officials admitted to only 459 deaths, but the real number of victims was about 6,000. In addition, another 10,000 suffered side effects such as blindness, deafness and brain damage.

On April 15, 1947, a French freighter arrived in Texas. On board there were about 1,400 tons of fertilizer, ammonium nitrate. That same night, a fire broke out on the ship. By dawn, local authorities were significantly concerned about the plumes of black smoke emanating from the ship, as the city's chemical plant was located only 300 meters from the fire. Tugboats were prepared to push the cargo out to sea. However, suddenly a huge column of fire enveloped the ship. For many, this was the last thing they saw. The wall of flame spread to the chemical plant, causing an explosion. Much of the business district was wiped off the face of the earth. The fire raged along the shoreline, where there were huge tanks of butane. After midnight, a new chain reaction of explosions began. The disaster killed more than 500 people and seriously injured about 1,000.

On June 30, 1098, a huge explosion occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Russia. The mid-air explosion was most likely caused by a meteorite or comet fragment with a radius of 20 meters. The energy of the explosion was about 10–20 megatons of TNT, which is 1,000 times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The Tunguska explosion destroyed approximately 80 million trees, covering more than 2,150 square kilometers. The destructive effects of the meteorite are still visible from satellites.

Empire State Building disaster

On Saturday, July 28, 1945, the Army veteran took off in a US Air Force B-25 Mitchell bomber from Massachusetts to New Jersey with a co-pilot and a young sailor on board. Due to fog, visibility was poor. An hour later, people on the streets of Manhattan heard the deafening roar of an engine and saw a bomber wandering among the skyscrapers. Some time later, he crashed into the Empire State Building. The wreckage of the plane fell to the ground. One of the engines blew a hole on the 78th floor, passing through seven walls and exiting on the opposite side of the building. The second engine hit the elevator shaft and fell into the basement. When the plane's fuel tank exploded, the fire engulfed 6 floors. Fortunately, not all offices were open on Saturday; only 11 people and three plane passengers died.

Year after year, firefighters in Gillingham, Kent, England, construct a house of sorts out of wood and canvas for an annual popular fire-fighting demonstration. Every year, several boys are selected to take part in the demonstration. On July 11, 1929, 9 boys, aged 10 to 14, and 6 firefighters, dressed as members of a wedding party, went up to the third floor of the “house.” According to the plan, firefighters would light a smoke bomb on the ground floor, rescue the “celebrants” using ropes and ladders, and then set the empty house on fire, demonstrating the fire hoses in action. However, by mistake, a real fire was lit first. The spectators, who mistook the real burning bodies for mannequins, cheered and applauded, unaware of the real fire. All 15 demonstrators died that day.

A huge cylindrical gasometer, the largest in the world at that time, located in the heart of the industrial center of Pittsburgh, was leaking. On the morning of November 14, 1927, repairmen began searching for a hole using a blowtorch with an open flame. At approximately 10 a.m., they discovered the leak. As a result, the tank containing about 5 million cubic feet of natural gas rose into the air like a balloon and exploded. Huge pieces of metal flew over a distance of about a kilometer, and the combined effects of air pressure and fire destroyed everything within a square mile. Then 28 people died, hundreds were injured, damage was estimated at $4 million.

On January 15, 1919, workers and residents of Boston were outside enjoying a surprisingly warm day. Suddenly, with a low boom, the cast iron tank of the Purity Distilling Company exploded and a huge wave (2.5 to 4.5 m high) of raw black molasses hit the city. Neither pedestrians nor cars could overcome this stream, which swept through the streets at a speed of about 60 km/h. The 8,700 m³ of molasses intended for rum consumed many people: 21 people died from suffocation, unable to escape from the viscous substance, and another 150 were hospitalized. In addition, the wave destroyed several buildings and an elevated railway. For another week the smell of molasses lingered in Boston, and the port remained brown until the summer.

Panic at the Baptist Church

Three thousand people, mostly black, gathered at Shiloh Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 19, 1902, to hear an address by Booker Taliapher Washington. The brick church building was erected quite recently. A steep flight of stairs, lined with brick, led from the front doors to the liturgy section. After Washington's speech, a squabble began over empty seats, and the word "fight" was mistaken for the word "fire." All the parishioners began a panicked flight to the stairs. Those who reached it first began to be pushed from behind, and they began to fall. Others fell right on top of them until the screaming bodies formed a pile 4 meters high, completely barricading the passage.

Attempts by Washington and church officials to call the people to calm were of no avail; they could only watch helplessly as their brothers and sisters either suffocated or were trampled to death. In reality, there was no fire or even a fight, however, 115 people died.

Snake invasion in Saint-Pierre

Volcanic activity at Mount Pelee, in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, was usually so insignificant that no one noticed the smoking vents and tremors in April 1902. Soon (in early May) a continuous rain of ash began, and the acrid smell of sulfur appeared in the air. As a result, more than a hundred pit vipers crawled out of their shelters on the mountainside, as they became uninhabitable, and then infested one of the quarters of Saint-Pierre, inhabited by mulattoes. The venomous snakes, up to two meters long, killed 50 people and countless animals before being wiped out by the city's stray cats. But that was only the beginning.

On May 5, a huge landslide of boiling mud flowed into the sea, causing a tsunami that killed several hundred people. And, to top off all the misfortunes, three days later, on May 8, a volcanic eruption occurred, as a result of which a huge amount of hot lava headed straight into the city. In just three minutes, the city was completely wiped off the face of the Earth. Almost the entire 30,000 population of Saint-Pierre died, only two survived.

War takes tens of thousands of human lives, but even the bloodiest one cannot compare with the elements: the planet does not spare us - and does not even pay attention to the number of victims suffered from cyclones, floods and other terrible misfortunes. What's worse - a tornado or a fire? What are the chances of surviving a volcanic eruption? What about during an avalanche? Unfortunately, the answer in both cases is minimal. We have collected 10 of the most terrible natural disasters in the entire history of mankind: apparently, nature is beginning, gradually, to punish us for the careless destruction of the planet.

Eruption of Mont Pele volcano

1902 On May 8, 1902, the Mont Pele volcano, which had been dormant peacefully for decades, suddenly exploded. This catastrophe simply cannot be called an eruption: lava flows and pieces of rock literally destroyed the main port of Martinique, Saint-Pierre. In just a few minutes, as many as 36,000 people died.

Flood in China

1931 The beginning of 1931 became a terrible test for the entire people of China. A series of terrible floods, which modern historians call the worst natural disaster in human history, claimed almost 4 million lives.

Fire in Curonian-2

1936 The summer of 1936 turned out to be very hot. The fire that started near the village was fanned by the wind. The fire moved towards the people. At night, a train approached the village, and work began to save the logging site. At the very end, when the danger was very high, the train moved away - the villagers were sitting on logs. When the train approached the canal, the wooden bridge was already on fire. A train loaded with logs took over from him. People were burning alive. About 1,200 people died in one night.

Avalanche of Huascaran

1970 An earthquake off the coast of Peru destabilizes the northern slope of the majestic double-humped Mount Huascaran. An avalanche of ice and rock rushed down at a speed of 180 miles per hour. The town of Jungau, located on the spur of Huascaran, has already encountered 80 million cubic meters of mud, ice and snow. Of the 25,000 residents of the village, none survived.

Cyclone Bhola

1970 This tropical cyclone is recognized as one of the most destructive natural disasters of the modern world. The storm surge that hit the islands of the Ganges Delta killed half a million people. Once again, think about this number: 500,000 people died in just one day.

Storm in Iran

1972 A terrible snow storm lasted a whole week: rural areas of Iran were completely covered with a three-meter layer of snow. Some villages were literally buried under avalanches. Subsequently, authorities counted as many as 4,000 people dead.

Tanshan earthquake

1976 This natural disaster occurred in the Chinese city of Tangshan. At about four o'clock in the morning, at a depth of 22 kilometers, a powerful earthquake occurred. The city was destroyed to the ground, none of the 655,000 people survived.

Tornado in Daulatpur

1989 Observers noticed a deadly tornado, the radius of which exceeded 1.5 kilometers, on the morning of April 26. A little later, this giant fell on Bangladesh. The tornado was powerful enough to easily lift entire houses into the air. People were literally torn apart: in just one day, about one and a half thousand people died, another 12 thousand ended up in the hospital.

European heat

2003 The summer heat wave of 2003 killed 70,000 people. According to the authorities, the local health care system was simply not designed for such incredible loads. It is noteworthy that weather forecasters claim a repetition of such a heat attack approximately every thirteen years.

Indian Ocean Tsunami

2004 An underwater earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004 caused a tsunami of incredible force. The earthquake itself was recognized as the third highest in history in general. A tsunami with waves exceeding 15 meters in height hit the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand and killed more than 250,000 people.

We would like to think that tragedies teach us at least something, such as helping each other in difficult situations and working together to solve problems.

But sometimes, even when the disaster is over, the tragedy still continues. People are falling into chaos and making the worst moments in humanity's life even worse. And as a result, the details of the darkest events become so gruesome that they tend to be omitted from history books.

1. Events in Tiananmen Square - China billed the families of the victims for the spent bullets

In 1989, after the death of controversial statesman and politician Hu Yaobang, Chinese students took to Tiananmen Square to try to bring about real change in China. They put forward a list of demands and went on a hunger strike in hopes of ending corruption and taking the first steps towards democracy.

However, their efforts were in vain as the army intervened in the situation. By order of the government, soldiers and tanks moved to Tiananmen Square, which is located in the very center of Beijing. At least 300 students were killed in this unequal battle. According to some estimates, the death toll reached 2,700 people.

Usually this is where the story ends, but there is one small detail that makes it even worse. According to some sources, after the murder, the Chinese government billed the families of the victims for the bullets spent. Parents of protesting students had to pay 27 cents (in modern money) for each bullet fired at their child.

The Chinese government denied the accusations against itself. However, there is every reason to believe that the above reports were true.

2. The My Lai Massacre - President Nixon pardoned the man responsible for the crime.

The most horrific incident that occurred during the Vietnam War is considered to be the My Lai massacre. In 1968, American soldiers brutally massacred 350 South Vietnamese civilians. They raped women, mutilated children - and did not suffer any punishment for it.

Of all those involved in the murder, only one soldier was charged: William Colley. The court found Colley guilty of killing 22 civilians and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, he never went to prison. He was put under house arrest, which, however, did not last long. Colley remained under house arrest for only three years before President Richard Nixon pardoned him.

However, this story is not so simple. The man who informed the American authorities about the brutal murder and testified against the people who committed it was named Hugh Thompson. He risked his own life trying to save as many Vietnamese as possible. Thompson received death threats as a reward for his bravery and heroism. Every morning, unknown people left mutilated animals on the porch of his house. For the rest of his life, Thompson was forced to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

3. Pompeii – It became so hot in the neighboring city that people’s heads could not stand it and literally exploded

The destruction of Pompeii is one of the most notorious natural disasters in human history. The entire city was plunged into a sea of ​​volcanic ash, which claimed the lives of thousands of people.

However, compared to Herculaneum, Pompeii, so to speak, got off easy. A man who witnessed the volcanic eruption that occurred in 79 AD described this terrible disaster: “A huge black cloud descended on land and sea, accompanied by bright flashes of flame.”

This huge black cloud covered the whole of Herculaneum. Its streets became incredibly hot - the air temperature reached more than 500 degrees Celsius. In such unbearable conditions, people’s skin instantly burned, their bones turned black, and their heads could not stand it and literally exploded.

4. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 – Radioactive fallout led to an increase in cancer rates and car accidents

On September 11, 2001, when planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, approximately 3,000 innocent people died. It was the worst terrorist attack in US history. However, over the next few years, the number of its victims increased significantly.

After the infamous events of September 11, 2001, people became afraid to fly, causing airline ticket sales to decline by 20 percent. Instead, everyone began to actively use cars, despite the fact that land transport is considered more dangerous than air. In the twelve months following the attack, nearly 1,600 Americans died in car crashes because they were afraid to fly.

But the worst impact of the events of September 11, 2001 is the increase in cancer rates. The Twin Towers were built from 400 tons of asbestos, which after the explosion turned to dust and spread throughout the city. According to some data, more than 400 thousand people were affected by the asbestos cloud. As a result, cancer rates in New York City have increased significantly since the tragedy. In addition, over 70 percent of the people who helped cope with the consequences of the explosion now suffer from lung problems.

5. Great Famine in Ireland - Queen Victoria forbade the Sultan to help her people

When famine struck Ireland, Majid Abdul Khan, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, volunteered to help the country. In 1847, he loaded the ships with food and offered Ireland financial assistance in the amount of 10 thousand pounds sterling to combat the crisis.

Oddly enough, British diplomats rejected his offer. They explained this by saying that, according to royal protocol, the amount of foreign aid should not exceed the amount that Queen Victoria is willing to sacrifice to save her people. At their request, the Sultan reduced his monetary donation to 1000 pounds sterling.

Be that as it may, the Irish were still delighted with his “gesture of great generosity.” As a token of gratitude, they wrote to him: “For the first time in history, a Muslim ruler representing a large Islamic population shows warm sympathy for a Christian people.”

6. Black Death – The plague led to the genocide of the Jews

The Black Death in the mid-14th century killed between 75 and 200 million people, destroying about a third of Europe's population. It was a terrible tragedy for which, oddly enough, the Jews were blamed.

The fact is that Europeans considered the plague to be part of a Jewish conspiracy. They claimed that the Jews were poisoning the water in wells throughout the country in order to make the Christian people suffer. At first it was just a theory, which later received “confirmation”. The Inquisition began to hunt Jews; they were tortured until they agreed that they were responsible for the plague. After this, the people rebelled. They took children from Jewish families. They tied Jews to poles and burned them alive. During one such incident, more than 2,000 people were killed.

The Black Death, of course, was not part of a Jewish conspiracy, but people believed otherwise. Their revenge spared no one. The city of Strasbourg even passed a law that banned Jews from entering the city for 100 years.

7. Hurricane Katrina – Refusal to help refugees

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, countless people were left homeless. In search of safer places, they were forced to flee to neighboring cities. The New Orleans police helped them, showing them the way to the bridge that led to the city of Gretna.

However, on the bridge these people encountered an obstacle in the form of four police cars that blocked the road. Police officers stood next to them, holding shotguns. They chased away the refugees, shouting after them: “We don’t need another Superdome here!” According to some reports, they even took food and water from people before driving them away.

Arthur Lawson, Gretna police chief, confirmed the incident. “They don’t belong here,” he commented on his refusal to help refugees from New Orleans.

8. Wounded Knee Massacre - Twenty soldiers were awarded Medals of Honor

In 1890, American troops attacked a Lakota Indian camp. The attack killed approximately 200 innocent men, women and children. The people who did this (this event went down in history as the Massacre at Wounded Knee) were real killers. However, twenty of them were awarded the Medal of Honor. General Miles called it "an insult to the memory of the dead," but his protest came to nothing.

During the award ceremony, Sergeant Toy was told that he was receiving the medal "for gallantry in fighting hostile Indians." In fact, he was rewarded for shooting in the back the fleeing Native Americans who were unarmed. Another soldier, Lieutenant Garlington, received a medal for preventing the victims from escaping. He forced them to hide in a ravine, where they were shot by Lieutenant Gresham.

Sergeant Loyd, one of those soldiers who was awarded the Medal of Honor for the massacre of unarmed Indians, committed suicide two years later - a few days before the anniversary of the massacre at Wounded Knee. It is not known what prompted him to take his own life. Perhaps it was conscience.

9. Great Fire of London – Townspeople Hanged a Mentally Retarded Man

Everyone who knew Robert Hubert considered him “not a very healthy man.” In all likelihood, he was mentally retarded or mentally ill. He could not speak a word of English, and his limbs were paralyzed. But despite all this, he was blamed for the Great Fire of London in 1666 and hanged.

Hubert was out of town when the fire happened. He appeared two days later. The man wandered the streets, constantly repeating the word “Yes!” In 1666, it didn't take much effort to prove a person's guilt. The crowd grabbed Hubert and dragged him to the police station.

There he answered everything that was asked of him with the word “Yes!” He even “confessed” that a Frenchman had paid him a shilling to set London on fire. Hubert agreed with every version, but he was hanged anyway.

Fifteen years later, the captain of the ship showed up and helped Hubert get to London. He told the townspeople that when the Great Fire happened, the poor fellow was not in the city. But by that time it was already too late.

10. “Titanic” – Bills issued to the families of the victims

The British shipping company White Star Line was very frugal. According to the contract, all employees who were on board the ship were fired the very second the Titanic began to sink. The company did not want to pay crew members money for not performing their immediate duties while the ship was sinking.

After the Titanic sank, the families of the victims were informed that they would have to pay the cost of freight if they wanted to recover the bodies of their loved ones. Most of them could not afford this, which is why today many of those who died in the tragedy have memorials instead of graves.

For musicians, things were even worse. The orchestra members, who desperately continued to play even as the ship sank, were registered as independent contractors. This meant that the White Star Line legally had nothing to do with them. The families of other crew members received compensation for the loss of their breadwinners, but the relatives of the dead musicians were not paid a penny. But they were billed for “damaged uniforms.”

It is terrible to realize how much evil man has done to himself and the planet on which he lives. Most of the harm was caused by large industrial corporations that do not think about the level of danger of their activities in an effort to make a profit. What’s especially scary is that disasters also occurred as a result of testing various types of weapons, including nuclear ones. We offer 15 of the world's biggest human-caused disasters.

15. Castle Bravo (March 1, 1954)

The United States test-detonated a nuclear weapon in Bikini Atoll, near the Marshall Islands, in March 1954. It was a thousand times more powerful than the explosion in Hiroshima, Japan. This was part of a US government experiment. The damage caused by the explosion was catastrophic for the environment over an area of ​​11265.41 km2. 655 fauna representatives were destroyed.

14. Disaster in Seveso (July 10, 1976)

An industrial disaster near Milan, Italy resulted from the release of toxic chemicals into the environment. During the production cycle of trichlorophenol, a dangerous cloud of harmful compounds was released into the atmosphere. The release instantly had a detrimental effect on the flora and fauna of the area adjacent to the plant. The company hid the fact of a chemical leak for 10 days. The incidence of cancer increased, which was later confirmed by studies of dead animals. Residents of the small town of Seveso began to experience frequent cases of heart pathologies and respiratory diseases.

The meltdown of part of a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, USA, released an unknown amount of radioactive gases and iodine into the environment. The accident occurred due to a series of personnel errors and mechanical problems. There was a lot of debate about the scale of pollution, but official bodies withheld specific figures so as not to cause panic. They argued that the release was insignificant and could not harm flora and fauna. However, in 1997, the data was re-examined and it was concluded that those who lived near the reactor were 10 times more likely to develop cancer and leukemia than others.

12. Exxon Valdez oil spill (March 24, 1989)

As a result of the accident on the Exxon Valdez tanker, a huge amount of oil entered the ocean in the Alaska region, which led to the pollution of 2092.15 km of coastline. As a result, irreparable damage was caused to the ecosystem. And to date it has not been restored. In 2010, the US government stated that 32 species of wildlife had been damaged and only 13 had been recovered. They were unable to restore the subspecies of killer whales and Pacific herring.

The explosion and flooding of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico at the Macondo field resulted in a leak of 4.9 million barrels of oil and gas. According to scientists, this accident was the largest in US history and claimed 11 lives of platform workers. The ocean inhabitants were also harmed. Violations of the bay's ecosystem are still observed.

10. Disaster Love Channel (1978)

In Niagara Falls, New York, about a hundred homes and a local school were built on the site of an industrial and chemical waste dump. Over time, the chemicals seeped into the topsoil and water. People began to notice that some black swampy spots were appearing near their houses. When the analysis was done, they found the content of eighty-two chemical compounds, eleven of which were carcinogenic substances. Among the diseases of the Love Canal residents, such serious diseases as leukemia began to appear, and 98 families had children with serious pathologies.

9. Chemical Contamination of Anniston, Alabama (1929-1971)

In Anniston, in the area where agricultural and biotech giant Monsanto first produced cancer-causing substances, they were inexplicably released into Snow Creek. The population of Anniston suffered greatly. As a result of exposure, the percentage of diabetes and other pathologies increased. In 2002, Monsanto paid $700 million in compensation for damage and rescue efforts.

During the Gulf War in Kuwait, Saddam Hussein set fire to 600 oil wells to create a toxic smokescreen for 10 months. It is believed that between 600 and 800 tons of oil were burned daily. About five percent of Kuwait's territory was covered in soot, livestock was dying of lung disease, and the country suffered an increase in cancer cases.

7. Explosion at the Jilin Chemical Plant (November 13, 2005)

Several powerful explosions occurred at the Zilin Chemical Plant. A huge amount of benzene and nitrobenzene, which has a detrimental toxic effect, was released into the environment. The disaster resulted in the death of six people and the injury of seventy.

6. Times Beach, Missouri Pollution (December 1982)

The spraying of oil containing toxic dioxin led to the complete destruction of a small town in Missouri. The method was used as an alternative to irrigation to remove dust from roads. Things got worse when the city was flooded by the Meremek River, causing toxic oil to spread along the entire coastline. Residents were exposed to dioxin and reported immune and muscle problems.

For five days, smoke from coal burning and factory emissions covered London in a dense layer. The fact is that cold weather set in and residents started burning coal stoves en masse to warm their houses. The combination of industrial and public emissions into the atmosphere resulted in thick fog and poor visibility, and 12,000 people died from inhaling toxic fumes.

4. Minamata Bay Poisoning, Japan (1950s)

Over 37 years of producing plastics, the petrochemical company Chisso Corporation dumped 27 tons of metal mercury into the waters of Minamata Bay. Because residents used it for fishing without knowing about the release of chemicals, the mercury-poisoned fish caused serious damage to the health of babies born to mothers who ate Minamata fish and killed more than 900 people in the region.

3. Bhopal Disaster (December 2, 1984)

The whole world knows about radiation contamination as a result of a nuclear reactor accident and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. It has been called the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. About a million people died due to the consequences of the nuclear disaster, mainly from cancer and due to exposure to high levels of radiation.

After the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was left without power and unable to cool its nuclear fuel reactors. This led to radioactive contamination of a large area and water area. About two hundred thousand residents were evacuated due to fears of serious illnesses as a result of exposure. The disaster once again forced scientists to think about the dangers of atomic energy and the need to develop

You cannot live in the past, dream about the future, you need to appreciate the present, enjoy every day you live. The horrors that befell humanity in the twentieth century cannot be forgotten. You will find the most tragic events and shocking lessons of fate in our review.

Disasters on the water

The death of thousands of people on the waters is caused by various reasons: human factor, design errors, military actions, natural disasters. Let's look at the largest tragedies in terms of the number of victims that occurred on the water in the last century:

1. "Goya". The warship, confiscated by the Germans after they occupied Norwegian territories during the Great Patriotic War, killed 7,000 people. On April 16, 1945, a torpedo was fired at the powerful ship from a Russian submarine, causing the Goya to sink in the Baltic Sea.

2. "Wilhelm Gustloff." The German ship is named after the Nazi party leader. At the time of construction it was considered the largest ship in the world. Before the war it was used as a means of recreation. The ship sank on January 30, 1945. The reason is an attack by the Soviet military from a submarine. The exact composition of the passengers is unknown, but according to the official version, 5,348 people died. There were women and children on board.

3. "Mont Blanc". On December 6, 1917, a French warship exploded in a Canadian harbor and collided with the Imo (Norway). As a result of the fire, few managed to survive. Mortality is 2,000 people (1,950 people identified), and the cause is a banal human factor. Not counting the pre-nuclear era, this explosion was the most powerful in the history of mankind. You can watch a film about the terrible tragedy made in Canada in 2003 - “Destructive City”.

4. "Bismarck". The German battleship was sunk by British aircraft on June 12, 1944 during the war. The number of victims was 1,995 people.

The sinking of the Titanic

At the time of commissioning, the ship was considered the largest on earth. The giant ship sank on its first voyage on April 15, 1912, colliding with an iceberg.

Horror and death in the air

In the mid-twentieth century, air travel became widespread. The active development of passenger aviation has led to an excess of deaths in the sky compared to “water” mortality. Here is a list of “bright” tragedies that claimed the lives of many innocent people:

1. Clash in Tenerife. The disaster occurred on March 27, 1977. Event location: Canary Islands (Tenerife). The fatal “meeting” of two airliners caused the death of 583 people. 61 people managed to escape the tragedy. For the period of the twentieth century, this plane crash is the largest in terms of the number of civil aviation events.

2. Disaster near Tokyo. On August 12, 1985, a Japanese airliner lost control 12 minutes after takeoff, losing its vertical stabilizer. For 32 minutes, the crew fought to save the plane in the air, but a collision with Mount Otsutaka influenced the devastating outcome of events. 520 people died, and only 4 survived. The disaster is called the largest in the history of “one plane.”

3. Charkhi Dadri (city in India). The plane crash occurred as a result of a collision between the flagship and Kazakh airliners at an altitude of 4,109 meters. All passengers were killed, including the crew of both planes (349 people in total).

4. Air crash near Paris. On March 3, 1974, a wide-body airliner built by a Turkish company killed 346 people. A few minutes after takeoff, the cargo bay door suddenly opened.

Explosive compression destroyed all control systems. The plane was picketing and crashed into the forest. The investigation indicated that the locking mechanism in the compartment was imperfect. Afterwards, many airlines made changes to aircraft designs to avoid catastrophic recurrences.

5. Terrorist attack near Cork. On its way to London, India's flagship carrier was the victim of a brutal terrorist attack. Just a few minutes before arrival, an explosion occurred on board the plane and everyone on board died (329 people). This is the largest terrorist attack in Canadian history.

Tragedies on earth

Some tragedies that happened in the last century on earth still cause concern and fear, continuing to destroy the health and lives of ordinary residents, namely:

1. Bhopal disaster. The man-made tragedy is the largest in history. An accident occurred at a chemical plant in India (1984). 18,000 people died. 3,000 of the dead were victims of instant death, while the rest died in the months and years following the tragedy. The cause of the terrible event could not be determined.

2. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. On April 26, 1986, a major deadly accident occurred, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (Ukraine). The release of a huge amount of radioactive substances into the air caused the death of hundreds of people, not immediately, but gradually.

3. Piper Alpha. At the oil station in 1988, 167 people (staff members) died, 59 people were lucky, they managed to survive. This disaster is the largest in the oil industry.

In addition to man-made tragedies, many other shocking events occurred in the 20th century - a warrior whose total number of millions of victims can no longer be counted: World War I (1914-1818), Civil War in Russia (1917-1923), World War II (1939 -1945), Korean War (1950-1053).

Natural disasters

1. Cyclone Bhola. The disaster occurred in 1970. The tropical storm swept across several territories of Pakistan and Bengal, wiping out cities and small villages. Researchers were unable to find out the exact number of deceased citizens (approximately 5,000,000 people).

2. Valdivian earthquake (1960 - Chile). The resulting tsunami did not protect many innocent residents. The number of victims reached several thousand people. In addition to death, the natural phenomenon caused significant damage to the affected areas (cost estimate: $500 million).

3. Megatsunami in Alaska (1958). Earthquake, landslides, collapse of rocks and ice into the water, the world's highest tsunami. The disaster totals 5,000,000 casualties.

Tsunami in Alaska