For centuries, natural disasters have haunted humanity. Some happened so long ago that scientists cannot estimate the scale of the destruction. For example, the Mediterranean island of Stroggli is believed to have been wiped off the map by a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC. The tsunami caused destroyed the entire Minoan civilization, but no one knows even the approximate number of deaths. However, the 10 worst known disasters, mostly earthquakes and floods, killed an estimated 10 million people.
10. Aleppo earthquake - 1138, Syria (Victims: 230,000)
One of the most powerful earthquakes known to mankind, and the fourth largest in the number of victims (estimated at over 230 thousand dead). The city of Aleppo, a large and populous urban center since antiquity, is geologically located along the northern part of a system of major geological faults, which also includes the Dead Sea Trench, and which separate the Arabian and African tectonic plates, which are in constant interaction. The Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi recorded the date of the earthquake - Wednesday, October 11, 1138, and also indicated the number of victims - over 230 thousand people. Such a number of casualties and destruction shocked contemporaries, especially the Western crusader knights, since at that time in northwestern Europe, where most of them were from, there was a rare city with a population of 10 thousand inhabitants. After the earthquake, the population of Aleppo recovered only at the beginning of the 19th century, when the city again recorded a population of 200 thousand inhabitants.
9. Indian Ocean Earthquake - 2004, Indian Ocean (Victims: 230,000+)
The third, and according to some estimates the second most powerful, is the underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean that took place on December 26, 2004. It caused a tsunami, which caused most of the damage. Scientists estimate the earthquake's magnitude to be between 9.1 and 9.3. The epicenter was underwater, north of the island of Simeulue, northwest of Indonesian Sumatra. Huge waves reached the shores of Thailand, southern India and Indonesia. Then the wave height reached 15 meters. Many areas suffered enormous destruction and casualties, including Port Elizabeth, South Africa, which is 6,900 km from the epicenter. The exact number of victims is unknown, but it is estimated from 225 to 300 thousand people. The true figure can no longer be calculated, since many bodies were simply carried away by the water into the sea. It is curious, but several hours before the arrival of the tsunami, many animals reacted sensitively to the impending disaster - they left the coastal zones, moving to higher ground.
8. Banqiao Dam Failure - 1975, China (Victims: 231,000)
There are different estimates of the number of victims of the disaster. The official figure, about 26,000 people, only takes into account those directly drowned in the flood itself; taking into account those who died from epidemics and famine that spread as a result of the disaster, the total number of victims is, according to various estimates, 171,000 or even 230,000. The dam was designed in such a way as to survive the largest floods that occur once every thousand years (306 mm of precipitation per day). However, in August 1975, the largest flooding in 2,000 years occurred as a consequence of the powerful Typhoon Nina and several days of record storms. The flood caused a huge wave of water 10 kilometers wide, 3-7 meters high. The tide moved 50 kilometers from the coast in an hour and reached the plains, creating artificial lakes there with a total area of 12,000 sq. km. Seven provinces were flooded, including thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communications lines.
7. Tangshan earthquake - 1976, China (Victims: 242,000)
The second most powerful earthquake also occurred in China. On July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake occurred in Hebei province. Its magnitude was 8.2, which allows us to consider the event the largest natural disaster of the century. The official death toll was 242,419. However, most likely the figure was underestimated by the PRC authorities by 3-4 times. This suspicion is based on the fact that according to Chinese documents, the strength of the earthquake is indicated as only 7.8 points. Tangshan was almost immediately destroyed by powerful tremors, the epicenter of which was at a depth of 22 km below the city. Even Tianjin and Beijing, which are located 140 kilometers from the epicenter, were destroyed. The consequences of the disaster were terrible - 5.3 million houses were destroyed and damaged to such an extent that they were uninhabitable. The number of victims increased due to the subsequent series of tremors to 7.1. Today in the center of Tangshan there is a stele that reminds of the terrible disaster, and there is an information center dedicated to those events. It is a unique museum on this topic, the only one in China.
6. Kaifeng Flood - 1642, China (Victims: 300,000)
Long-suffering China again. Formally, this disaster can be considered natural, but it was caused by human hands. In 1642 in China there was peasant revolt, whose leader was Li Zicheng. The rebels approached the city of Kaifeng. In order to prevent the rebels from capturing the city, the command of the Ming Dynasty troops gave the order to flood the city and surrounding area with the waters of the Yellow River. When the water receded and the famine caused by the artificial flood ended, it turned out that of the 600,000 people in the city and surrounding area, only half survived. At that time it was one of the bloodiest punitive actions in history.
5. Indian Cyclone - 1839, India (Victims: 300,000+)
Although the photograph of the cyclone does not date back to 1839, it can be used to appreciate the full power of this natural phenomenon. The Indian cyclone of 1839 was not destructive in itself, but it produced powerful tidal waves that killed 300,000 people. Tidal waves completely destroyed the city of Coringa and sank 20,000 ships that were in the city's bay.
4. Great Chinese Earthquake - 1556 (Victims: 830,000)
In 1556 the most devastating earthquake in human history, called the Great Chinese Earthquake. It happened on January 23, 1556 in Shaanxi province. Historians believe the disaster killed about 830,000 people, more than any other similar event. Some areas of Shaanxi were completely depopulated, and in the rest more than half of the people died. Such a huge number of victims was explained by the fact that most of the inhabitants lived in loess caves, which immediately collapsed at the first shocks or were subsequently flooded by mudflows. According to modern estimates This earthquake was assigned a category of 11 points. One of the eyewitnesses warned his descendants that when a disaster begins, they should not rush headlong into the street: “When a bird’s nest falls from a tree, the eggs often remain unharmed.” Such words are evidence that many people died while trying to leave their homes. The destructiveness of the earthquake is evidenced by the ancient steles of Xi'an, collected in the local Beilin Museum. Many of them were crumbling or cracked. During the cataclysm, the Wild Goose Pagoda located here survived, but its foundation sank by 1.6 meters.
3. Bhola Cyclone - 1970 (Casualties: 500,000 - 1,000,000)
A destructive tropical cyclone that struck the territories of East Pakistan and Indian West Bengal on November 12, 1970. The deadliest tropical cyclone and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. About half a million people lost their lives when the storm surge flooded many of the low-lying islands of the Ganges delta. It was the sixth storm of the northern hurricane season. Indian Ocean 1970 and the strongest this year.
The cyclone formed over the central part of the Bay of Bengal on November 8, after which it began to move northward, gaining strength. It reached its peak power on the evening of November 12, and made contact with the East Pakistan coastline that same night. The storm surge devastated numerous offshore islands, sweeping away entire villages and destroying the region's farmland in its wake. In the worst-affected area of the country, Tazumuddin upazila, more than 45% of the 167,000 population died.
Political consequences
The unwieldy pace of rescue efforts only increased anger and resentment in East Pakistan and contributed to the local resistance movement. Subsidies arrived slowly, transport slowly delivered acute necessary funds into storm-ravaged areas. In March 1971, tensions steadily increased; foreign specialists began to leave the province, fearing outbreaks of violence. Subsequently, the situation continued to deteriorate and escalated into the War of Independence, which began on March 26. Later, in December of the same year, this conflict expanded into the Third Indo-Pakistani War, which culminated in the creation of the state of Bangladesh. The events that took place can be considered one of the first cases in which a natural phenomenon provoked a civil war, subsequent external intervention by a third power and the disintegration of one country into two independent states.
2. Yellow River Valley Flood - 1887, China (Victims: 900,000 - 2,000,000)
One of the worst floods in modern times human history, which, according to different sources, claimed from 1.5 to 7 million human lives, happened in the late spring of 1887 in the northern provinces of China, in the Yellow River Valley. Heavy rains throughout almost all of Hunan that spring caused the river to flood. The first flood occurred at a sharp bend, in the vicinity of the city of Zhangzhou.
Day after day, bubbling waters invaded the cities, destroying and devastating them. In total, 600 cities along the river's banks were affected by the flood, including the walled city of Hunan. The rapid flow continued to wash away fields, animals, cities and people, flooding an area 70 km wide with water that reached a depth of 15 meters.
The water, often against the wind and tide, slowly flooded terrace after terrace, on each of which 12 to 100 families accumulated. Of the 10 houses, only one or two survived. Half of the buildings were hidden under water. People lay on the roofs of houses, and old people who did not die of hunger died of cold.
The tops of the poplars that once stood along the roads stuck out of the water like algae. Here and there they held onto old trees with thick branches strong men and called for help. In one place, a box containing dead child, who was placed there for safety by his parents. The box contained food and a note with a name. In another place a family was discovered, all the members of which had died, the child was placed on the highest place ... well covered with clothes."
The destruction and devastation left after the waters subsided was simply terrible. Statistics have never been able to cope with the task of counting. By 1889, when the Yellow River finally returned to its course, disease was added to the misfortunes of the flood. It is estimated that half a million people died from cholera.
1. Great Flood - 1931, China (Victims: 1,000,000 - 4,000,000)
The summer monsoon period of 1931 was unusually stormy. Heavy rains and tropical cyclones raged across river basins. The dams withstood intense rain and storms for weeks, but they eventually gave way and collapsed in hundreds of places. Approximately 333,000 hectares of land were flooded, at least 40,000,000 people lost their homes, and crop losses were enormous. On large areas The water did not go away for three to six months. Diseases, food shortages, and lack of shelter led to the death of a total of 3.7 million people.
One of the epicenters of the tragedy was the city of Gaoyou in the northern province of Jiangsu. A powerful typhoon hit China's fifth largest lake, Gaoyu, on August 26, 1931. Its water level has already risen to record heights as a result of heavy rains in previous weeks. A squally wind raised high waves that crashed against the dams. After midnight the battle was lost. The dams were broken in six places, and the largest gap reached almost 700 m. Stormy stream swept through the city and the province. In one morning alone, about 10,000 people died in Gaoyu.
You can watch online here terrible disasters The video is not for the faint of heart. Man-made, air, natural, disasters, accidents, sea and much more on the topic of catastrophic events around the world await fans of terrible footage.
From emergency situations no one is safe, in every country, in every city, under water and on land, something incredible can happen that can even take the lives of thousands of people. Man considers himself a conqueror of the four elements, but nature has its own opinion on this matter and does not miss an opportunity to prove it.
Here we have collected videos of disasters from all over the world from YouTube, you can watch them online. You won't find such terrible footage anywhere. You can find a large list of videos not for the faint of heart with us for free. Each video is available without registration and especially without a virus. All content is in Russian. You must understand that these scary images will change your mood and outlook on a safe life. Plane crashes, train accidents, explosions at nuclear power plants, natural disasters - we have it all.
See all the most terrible disasters Russia and the whole world online. No one is immune from such complex life situations. This is usually called force majeure. All the freshest and newest things are published for you. On our resource you can watch YouTube videos of disasters. And these shots will make you shiver.
It's hard to enjoy watching scary emergency incidents, but you can find useful information You still can. Both on land and in the air, there is danger everywhere. And it does not always depend on the human factor. We trust our lives to professionals, and sometimes some of us are unlucky.
We recommend watching online video of the disaster, which is not for the faint of heart, in order to understand the fragility and price of our lives. On our resource you can do this absolutely free, and only here you will find the most popular and most relevant YouTube videos about the most incredible disasters, emergencies and incidents in the world.
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Watch videos of emergency incidents. The most impressive maritime emergencies and accidents on land will demonstrate to you how helpless a person can be in such situations.
If you are afraid of flying on planes and riding in trains, we recommend watching free videos of shipwrecks and train disasters another time. Well, for the bravest and most fearless, we have a selection of the most terrible tragedies and plane crashes in which people and animals suffered.
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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 in the waters was caused by for various reasons: human factor, design errors, military operations, 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". On a warship confiscated by the Germans after their occupation of Norwegian territories during the Great Patriotic War Patriotic War, 7,000 people died. 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 door suddenly opened cargo compartment.
Explosive compression destroyed all control systems. The plane was picketing and crashed into a 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, the explosion at 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 - warriors, the total number of millions of victims of which 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.
Humanity will never forget the accident on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. An explosion and fire occurred on April 20, 2010, 80 kilometers off the coast of Louisiana, at the Macondo oilfield. The oil spill was the largest in US history and virtually destroyed the Gulf of Mexico. We remembered the largest man-made and environmental disasters in the world, some of which are almost worse than the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.
Could the accident have been avoided? Man-made disasters often occur as a consequence of natural disasters, but also because of worn-out equipment, greed, negligence, inattention... The memory of them serves as an important lesson for humanity, because natural disasters can harm people, but not the planet, but man-made ones pose a threat to absolutely the entire surrounding world.
15. Explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West - 15 victims
On April 17, 2013, an explosion occurred at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas. The explosion occurred at 19:50 local time and completely destroyed the plant, which belonged to the local company Adair Grain Inc. The explosion destroyed a school and a nursing home located near the plant. About 75 buildings in the city of West were seriously damaged. The explosion killed 15 people and injured about 200 people. Initially, there was a fire at the plant, and the explosion occurred while firefighters were trying to control the fire. At least 11 firefighters were killed.
Witnesses said the explosion was so strong that it was heard about 70 km from the plant, and the US Geological Survey recorded ground vibrations of magnitude 2.1. "It was like an explosion atomic bomb", said eyewitnesses. Residents of a number of areas near West were evacuated due to a leak of ammonia used in the production of fertilizers; authorities warned everyone about the leak of toxic substances. A no-fly zone was introduced over West at an altitude of up to 1 km. The city resembled a war zone. ..
In May 2013, a criminal case was opened into the explosion. The investigation found that the company stored the chemicals that caused the explosion in violation of safety requirements. The US Chemical Safety Board found that the company failed to necessary measures to prevent fire and explosion. In addition, at that time there were no rules that would prohibit the storage of ammonium nitrate near populated areas.
14. Flooding of Boston with molasses - 21 victims
The molasses flood in Boston occurred on January 15, 1919, after a giant molasses tank exploded in Boston's North End, sending a wave of sugar-containing liquid sweeping through the city's streets at high speed. 21 people died, about 150 were hospitalized. The disaster occurred at the Purity Distilling Company during Prohibition (fermented molasses was widely used to produce ethanol at the time). On the eve of the introduction of a complete ban, the owners tried to make as much rum as possible...
Apparently, due to metal fatigue in an overflowing tank with 8700 m³ of molasses, the sheets of metal connected by rivets came apart. The ground shook and a wave of molasses up to 2 meters high poured into the streets. The pressure of the wave was so great that it moved the freight train off the tracks. Nearby buildings were flooded to a height of one meter and some collapsed. People, horses, and dogs got stuck in the sticky wave and died from suffocation.
A Red Cross mobile hospital was deployed in the disaster zone, a US Navy unit entered the city - the rescue operation lasted a week. The molasses was removed using sand, which absorbed the viscous mass. Although the factory owners blamed the anarchists for the explosion, the townspeople extracted payments from them totaling $600,000 (approximately $8.5 million today). According to Bostonians, even now on hot days a cloying smell of caramel emanates from old houses...
13. Explosion at the Phillips chemical plant in 1989 - 23 victims
The explosion at the Phillips Petroleum Company chemical plant occurred on October 23, 1989, in Pasadena, Texas. Due to an oversight by employees, a large leak of flammable gas occurred, and a powerful explosion occurred, equivalent to two and a half tons of dynamite. A tank containing 20,000 gallons of isobutane gas exploded and the chain reaction caused 4 more explosions.
During scheduled maintenance, the air ducts on the valves were accidentally closed. Thus, the control room displayed that the valve was open, while it appeared to be closed. This led to the formation of a cloud of steam, which exploded at the slightest spark. The initial explosion registered a magnitude of 3.5 on the Richter scale and debris from the explosion was found within a 6 mile radius of the explosion.
Many of the fire hydrants failed, and the water pressure in the remaining hydrants dropped significantly. It took firefighters more than ten hours to bring the situation under control and completely extinguish the flames. 23 people were killed and another 314 were injured.
12. Fire at a pyrotechnics factory in Enschede in 2000 - 23 victims
On May 13, 2000, as a result of a fire at the S.F. pyrotechnics factory. Fireworks in the Dutch city of Enshede exploded, killing 23 people, including four firefighters. The fire started in the central building and spread to two full containers of fireworks illegally stored outside the building. Several subsequent explosions occurred with the largest explosion felt as far away as 19 miles.
During the fire, a significant part of the Rombek district was burned and destroyed - 15 streets were burned, 1,500 houses were damaged, and 400 houses were destroyed. In addition to the deaths of 23 people, 947 people were injured and 1,250 people were left homeless. Fire crews arrived from Germany to help fight the fire.
When S.F. Fireworks built a pyrotechnics factory in 1977, it was located far from the city. As the city grew, new low-cost housing surrounded the warehouses, causing terrible destruction, injury and death. Most local residents had no idea that they lived in such close proximity to a pyrotechnics warehouse.
11. Explosion at a chemical plant in Flixborough - 64 victims
An explosion occurred in Flixborough, England on June 1, 1974, killing 28 people. The accident happened at the Nipro plant, which produced ammonium. The disaster caused a whopping £36 million in property damage. British industry had never known such a catastrophe. The chemical plant at Flixborough virtually ceased to exist.
A chemical plant near the village of Flixborough specialized in the production of caprolactam, the starting product for synthetic fiber.
The accident happened like this: the bypass pipeline connecting reactors 4 and 6 ruptured, and steam began to escape from the taps. A cloud of cyclohexane vapor containing several tens of tons of substance was formed. The source of the cloud's ignition was probably a torch from a hydrogen installation. Due to the accident at the plant, an explosive mass of heated vapors was released into the air, the slightest spark was enough to ignite them. 45 minutes after the accident, when the mushroom cloud reached the hydrogen plant, a powerful explosion occurred. The explosion in its destructive force was equivalent to the explosion of 45 tons of TNT, detonated at a height of 45 m.
About 2,000 buildings outside the plant were damaged. In the village of Amcotts, located on the other side of the River Trent, 73 of the 77 houses were badly damaged. In Flixborough, located 1200 m from the center of the explosion, 72 of 79 houses were destroyed. The explosion and subsequent fire killed 64 people, 75 people inside and outside the enterprise received injuries of varying severity.
Plant engineers, under pressure from the owners of the Nipro company, often deviated from the established technological regulations and ignored safety requirements. Bad experience This disaster showed that in chemical plants it is necessary to have a fast-acting automatic fire extinguishing system that allows fires of solid chemicals to be eliminated within 3 seconds.
10. Hot steel spill - 35 victims
On April 18, 2007, 32 people were killed and 6 injured when a ladle containing molten steel fell at the Qinghe Special Steel Corporation plant in China. Thirty tons of liquid steel, heated to 1500 degrees Celsius, fell from an overhead conveyor. Liquid steel burst through the doors and windows into the adjacent room where the workers on duty shift were located.
Perhaps the most horrific fact discovered during the study of this disaster is that it could have been prevented. The immediate cause of the accident was the unlawful use of substandard equipment. The investigation concluded that there were a number of deficiencies and safety violations that contributed to the accident.
When emergency services reached the scene of the disaster, they were stopped by the heat of molten steel and were unable to reach the victims for a long time. After the steel began to cool, they discovered 32 victims. Surprisingly, 6 people miraculously survived the accident and were taken to the hospital with severe burns.
9. Oil train crash in Lac-Mégantic - 47 victims
An explosion of an oil train occurred on the evening of July 6, 2013 in the town of Lac-Mégantic in Quebec, Canada. The train, owned by The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway and carrying 74 tanks of crude oil, derailed. As a result, several tanks caught fire and exploded. 42 people are known to have died, and another 5 people are listed as missing. As a result of the fire that engulfed the city, approximately half of the buildings in the city center were destroyed.
In October 2012, epoxy materials were used during engine repairs on the GE C30-7 #5017 diesel locomotive to quickly complete the repairs. During subsequent operation, these materials deteriorated, and the locomotive began to smoke heavily. Leaking fuel and lubricants accumulated in the turbocharger housing, which led to a fire on the night of the crash.
The train was driven by driver Tom Harding. At 23:00 the train stopped at Nantes station, on the main route. Tom contacted the dispatcher and reported problems with the diesel engine, strong black exhaust; the solution to the problem with the diesel locomotive was postponed until the morning, and the driver went to spend the night at a hotel. A train with a running diesel locomotive and dangerous cargo was left overnight at an unmanned station. At 11:50 p.m., 911 received a report of a fire on the lead locomotive. The compressor did not work in it, and the pressure in the brake line decreased. At 00:56 the pressure dropped to such a level that the hand brakes could not hold the cars and the out of control train went downhill towards Lac-Mégantic. At 00:14, the train derailed at a speed of 105 km/h and ended up in the city center. The cars derailed, explosions followed and burning oil spilled along the railway.
People in a nearby cafe, feeling the tremors of the earth, decided that an earthquake had started and hid under the tables, as a result they did not have time to escape from the fire... This train accident became one of the deadliest in Canada.
8. Accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station - at least 75 victims
The accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station is an industrial man-made disaster that occurred on August 17, 2009 - a “black day” for the Russian hydropower industry. As a result of the accident, 75 people died, the equipment and premises of the station were seriously damaged, and electricity production was suspended. The consequences of the accident affected the ecological situation of the water area adjacent to the hydroelectric power station, as well as the social and economic spheres of the region.
At the time of the accident, the hydroelectric power station carried a load of 4100 MW, out of 10 hydraulic units, 9 were in operation. At 8:13 local time on August 17, the destruction of hydraulic unit No. 2 occurred with significant volumes of water flowing through the hydraulic unit shaft under high pressure. Power plant personnel who were in the turbine room heard a loud bang and saw the release of a powerful column of water.
Streams of water quickly flooded the machine room and the rooms below it. All hydraulic units of the hydroelectric power station were flooded, while short circuits occurred on the operating hydraulic units (their flashes are clearly visible on the amateur video of the disaster), which put them out of action.
The lack of obviousness of the causes of the accident (according to Russian Energy Minister Shmatko, “this is the largest and most incomprehensible hydropower accident that has ever happened in the world”) gave rise to a number of versions that were not confirmed (from terrorism to water hammer). As the most probable cause The accidents are called fatigue failures of studs that occurred during the operation of hydraulic unit No. 2 with a temporary impeller and an unacceptable level of vibration in 1981-83.
7. Piper Alpha explosion - 167 victims
On July 6, 1988, an oil production platform in the North Sea called Piper Alpha was destroyed in an explosion. The Piper Alpha platform, installed in 1976, was the largest structure on the Piper site, owned by the Scottish company Occidental Petroleum. The platform was located 200 km north-east of Aberdeen and served as the control center for oil production at the site. The platform contained a helipad and a residential module for 200 oil workers working in shifts. On July 6, an unexpected explosion occurred on the Piper Alpha. The fire that engulfed the platform did not even give the staff the opportunity to send an SOS signal.
As a result of a gas leak and subsequent explosion, 167 people out of 226 on the platform at that moment were killed, only 59 survived. It took 3 weeks to extinguish the fire, with high winds (80 mph) and 70-foot waves. The final cause of the explosion could not be established. According to the most popular version, there was a gas leak on the platform, as a result of which a small spark was enough to start the fire. The Piper Alpha accident led to significant criticism and subsequent review of safety standards for oil production in the North Sea.
6. Fire in Tianjin Binhai - 170 victims
On the night of August 12, 2015, two explosions broke out at a container storage area in the port of Tianjin. At 22:50 local time, reports began to arrive about a fire at the warehouses of the Ruihai company located in the port of Tianjin, which transports hazardous chemicals. As investigators later found out, it was caused by spontaneous combustion of dried and heated summer sun nitrocellulose. Within 30 seconds of the first explosion, a second explosion occurred - a container containing ammonium nitrate. The local seismological service estimated the power of the first explosion at 3 tons of TNT equivalent, the second at 21 tons. Firefighters who arrived at the scene could not stop the spread of the fire for a long time. The fires raged for several days and 8 more explosions occurred. The explosions created a huge crater.
The explosions killed 173 people, injured 797, and left 8 people missing. . Thousands of Toyota, Renault, Volkswagen, Kia and Hyundai vehicles were damaged. 7,533 containers, 12,428 vehicles and 304 buildings were destroyed or damaged. In addition to death and destruction, the damage amounted to $9 billion. It turned out that three apartment buildings were built within a one-kilometer radius of the chemical warehouse, which is prohibited by Chinese law. Authorities have charged 11 officials from the city of Tianjin in connection with the explosion. They are accused of negligence and abuse of power.
5. Val di Stave, dam failure - 268 victims
In northern Italy, above the village of Stave, the Val di Stave dam collapsed on July 19, 1985. The accident destroyed 8 bridges, 63 buildings, and killed 268 people. After the disaster, during the investigation it was determined that there had been bad Maintenance and a small margin of operational safety.
In the upper of the two dams, rainfall had caused the drainage pipe to become less effective and become clogged. Water continued to flow into the reservoir and the pressure in the damaged pipe increased, which also caused pressure on the shore rock. The water began to penetrate the soil, liquefy into the mud and weaken the banks until finally erosion occurred. In just 30 seconds, water and mud flows from the upper dam broke through and poured into the lower dam.
4. The collapse of a waste heap in Namibia - 300 victims
By 1990, Nambia, a mining community in southeastern Ecuador, had a reputation for being "environmentally hostile." The local mountains have been pitted by miners, riddled with holes from mining, the air is damp and filled with chemicals, toxic gases from the mine and a huge waste heap.
On May 9, 1993, most of the coal slag mountain at the end of the valley collapsed, killing about 300 people in a landslide. 10,000 people lived in the village in an area of about 1 square mile. Most of the town's houses were built right at the entrance to the mine tunnel. Experts have long warned that the mountain has become almost hollow. They said that further coal mining would lead to landslides, and after several days of heavy rain the soil softened and the worst predictions came true.
3. Texas explosion - 581 victims
A man-made disaster occurred on April 16, 1947 in the port of Texas City, USA. A fire on board the French ship Grandcamp led to the detonation of about 2,100 tons of ammonium nitrate (ammonium nitrate), which resulted in chain reaction in the form of fires and explosions on nearby ships and oil storage facilities.
The tragedy killed at least 581 people (including all but one of the Texas City Fire Department), injured more than 5,000, and sent 1,784 to hospitals. The port and a large part of the city were completely destroyed, many businesses were razed to the ground or burned down. More than 1,100 vehicles were damaged and 362 freight cars mangled - property damage is estimated at $100 million. These events sparked the first class action lawsuit against the US government.
The court found the Federal Government guilty of criminal negligence committed by government agencies and their representatives involved in the production, packaging and labeling of ammonium nitrate, aggravated by gross errors in its transportation, storage, loading and fire safety measures. 1,394 compensations totaling approximately $17 million were paid.
2. Bhopal disaster - up to 160,000 victims
This is one of the worst man-made disasters that occurred in the Indian city of Bhopal. As a result of an accident at a chemical plant owned by the American chemical company Union Carbide, which produces pesticides, a toxic substance, methyl isocyanate, was released. It was stored at the factory in three partially buried tanks, each of which could hold about 60,000 liters of liquid.
The cause of the tragedy was the emergency release of methyl isocyanate vapor, which in the factory tank heated above the boiling point, which led to an increase in pressure and rupture of the emergency valve. As a result, on December 3, 1984, about 42 tons of toxic fumes were released into the atmosphere. A cloud of methyl isocyanate covered nearby slums and the railway station, located 2 km away.
The Bhopal disaster is the largest in terms of casualties in modern history, causing the immediate death of at least 18 thousand people, of which 3 thousand died directly on the day of the accident, and 15 thousand in subsequent years. According to other sources, the total number of victims is estimated at 150-600 thousand people. Big number casualties are explained by the high population density, late informing residents about the accident, lack of medical personnel, as well as unfavorable weather conditions - a cloud of heavy vapors was carried by the wind.
Union Carbide, which was responsible for the tragedy, paid victims $470 million in an out-of-court settlement in 1987 in exchange for a waiver of claims. In 2010, an Indian court found seven former Indian executives of Union Carbide guilty of negligence causing death. Those convicted were sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 100 thousand rupees (approximately $2,100).
1. Banqiao Dam tragedy - 171,000 dead
The designers of the dam cannot even be blamed for this disaster; it was designed for severe floods, but this was completely unprecedented. In August 1975, the Banqiao Dam burst during a typhoon in western China, killing about 171,000 people. The dam was built in the 1950s to generate electricity and prevent flooding. Engineers designed it with a safety margin of a thousand years.
But on those fateful days in early August 1975, Typhoon Nina immediately produced more than 40 inches of rain, exceeding the area's annual rainfall total in just one day. After several days of even more heavy rain, the dam gave way and was washed away on August 8th.
The dam failure caused a wave 33 feet high, 7 miles wide, traveling at 30 mph. In total, more than 60 dams and additional reservoirs were destroyed due to the failure of the Banqiao Dam. The flood destroyed 5,960,000 buildings, killed 26,000 people immediately and another 145,000 died later as a result of famine and epidemics due to the natural disaster.
Every year, dozens of terrible man-made disasters occur in the world that cause significant harm to the global environment. Today I invite you to read about several of them in the continuation of the post.
Petrobrice is a Brazilian state-owned oil company. The company's headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro. In July 2000, a disaster at an oil refinery in Brazil spilled more than a million gallons of oil (about 3,180 tons) into the Iguazu River. For comparison, 50 tons of crude oil recently spilled near a resort island in Thailand.
The resulting stain moved downstream, threatening to poison drinking water for several cities at once. The liquidators of the accident built several barriers, but they managed to stop the oil only at the fifth one. One part of the oil was collected from the surface of the water, the other went through specially built diversion channels.
The Petrobrice company paid a fine of $56 million to the state budget and $30 million to the state budget.
On September 21, 2001, an explosion occurred at the AZF chemical plant in Toulouse, France, the consequences of which are considered one of the largest man-made disasters. 300 tons of ammonium nitrate (a salt of nitric acid) that were in a warehouse exploded finished products. According to the official version, the management of the plant is to blame for not ensuring the safe storage of an explosive substance.
The consequences of the disaster were gigantic: 30 people died, total number more than 3,00 were injured, thousands of residential houses and buildings were destroyed or damaged, including almost 80 schools, 2 universities, 185 kindergartens, 40,000 people were left homeless, more than 130 enterprises virtually ceased their activities. The total amount of damage is 3 billion euros.
On November 13, 2002, off the coast of Spain, the oil tanker Prestige was caught in a strong storm, with more than 77,000 tons of fuel oil in its holds. As a result of the storm, a crack about 50 meters long appeared in the ship's hull. On November 19, the tanker broke in half and sank. As a result of the disaster, 63,000 tons of fuel oil ended up in the sea.
Cleaning the sea and shores of fuel oil cost $12 billion; the full damage caused to the ecosystem is impossible to estimate.
On August 26, 2004, a fuel tanker carrying 32,000 liters of fuel fell from the 100-meter-high Wiehltal bridge near Cologne in western Germany. After the fall, the fuel tanker exploded. The culprit of the accident was a sports car that skidded on a slippery road, which caused the fuel tanker to skid.
This accident is considered one of the most expensive man-made disasters in history - temporary repairs to the bridge cost $40 million, and complete reconstruction cost $318 million.
On March 19, 2007, due to a methane explosion at the Ulyanovskaya mine in Kemerovo region 110 people died. The first explosion was followed by four more explosions within 5-7 seconds, which caused extensive collapses in the workings in several places at once. The chief engineer and almost the entire management of the mine were killed. This accident is the largest in Russian coal mining over the past 75 years.
On August 17, 2009, a man-made disaster occurred at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, located on the Yenisei River. This happened during the repair of one of the hydraulic units of the hydroelectric power station. As a result of the accident, the 3rd and 4th water pipelines were destroyed, the wall was destroyed and the turbine room was flooded. 9 out of 10 hydraulic turbines were completely out of order, the hydroelectric power station was stopped.
Due to the accident, the power supply to Siberian regions was disrupted, including limited electricity supply in Tomsk, and outages affected several Siberian aluminum smelters. As a result of the disaster, 75 people were killed and another 13 were injured.
The damage from the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station exceeded 7.3 billion rubles, including environmental damage. Recently, a trial began in Khakassia in the case of a man-made disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in 2009.
On October 4, 2010, a major environmental disaster occurred in western Hungary. At a large aluminum production plant, an explosion destroyed the dam of a reservoir containing toxic waste - the so-called red mud. About 1.1 million cubic meters of the corrosive substance were flooded by a 3-meter flow in the cities of Kolontar and Dečever, 160 kilometers west of Budapest.
Red mud is a sediment that is formed during the production of aluminum oxide. When it comes into contact with the skin, it acts like an alkali. As a result of the disaster, 10 people died, about 150 received various injuries and burns.
April 22, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast American state Louisiana, after an explosion that killed 11 people and a 36-hour fire, the Deepwater Horizon manned drilling rig sank.
The oil leak was stopped only on August 4, 2010. About 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. The platform on which the accident occurred belonged to a Swiss company, and at the time of the man-made disaster the platform was managed by British Petroleum.
On March 11, 2011, in the northeast of Japan, at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, after a strong earthquake, the largest earthquake in the last 25 years occurred after the disaster. Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Following earthquakes of magnitude 9.0, the coast came huge wave tsunami, which damaged 4 of the 6 reactors of the nuclear power plant and disabled the cooling system, which led to a series of hydrogen explosions, melting the core.
The total emissions of iodine-131 and cesium-137 after the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant amounted to 900,000 terabecquerels, which does not exceed 20% of emissions after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, which then amounted to 5.2 million terabecquerels.
Experts estimated the total damage from the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant at $74 billion. Complete elimination of the accident, including dismantling the reactors, will take about 40 years.
NPP "Fukushima-1"
On July 11, 2011, an explosion occurred at a naval base near Limassol in Cyprus, which claimed 13 lives and brought the island nation to the brink of economic crisis, destroying the island's largest power plant.
Investigators accused the President of the Republic, Dimitris Christofias, of neglecting the problem of storing ammunition confiscated in 2009 from the Monchegorsk ship on suspicion of arms smuggling to Iran. In fact, the ammunition was stored directly on the ground on the territory of the naval base and detonated due to the high temperature.
Destroyed Mari power plant in Cyprus
