About the accident on the oil platform deepwater horizon humanity will never forget. The explosion and fire happened on April 20, 2010, 80 kilometers from the coast of Louisiana, at the Macondo field. The oil spill was the largest in US history and effectively ruined 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 result 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 threaten absolutely the entire world around.
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 it completely destroyed the plant, which belonged to the local company Adair Grain Inc. The explosion destroyed a school and a nursing home located next to the plant. About 75 buildings in the city of West were seriously damaged. The explosion killed 15 people, about 200 people were injured. Initially, there was a fire at the plant, and the explosion happened at the moment when firefighters were trying to cope with the fire. At least 11 firefighters have died.
According to eyewitnesses, the explosion was so strong that it could be heard about 70 km from the plant, and the US Geological Survey recorded ground vibrations of magnitude 2.1. "It was like an atomic bomb explosion," eyewitnesses said. Residents in a number of areas near the West were evacuated due to a leak of ammonia used in the manufacture of fertilizers, the 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 looked like a war zone...
In May 2013, a criminal case was opened on the fact of the explosion. The investigation revealed that the company had been storing the chemicals that caused the explosion in violation of safety requirements. The US Chemical Safety Committee found that the company failed to take the necessary measures to prevent fire and explosion. In addition, at that time there were no regulations that would prohibit the storage of ammonium nitrate near populated areas.
14. Flooding of Boston with molasses - 21 victims
The molasses flood in Boston happened on January 15, 1919, after a giant molasses reservoir exploded in Boston's North End, sending a wave of sugary liquid through the streets of the city at great speed. 21 people died, about 150 were hospitalized. The disaster occurred at the Purity Distilling Company distillery 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 have time to make as much rum as possible ...
Apparently, due to metal fatigue in an overflowing tank with 8700 m³ of molasses, sheets of metal connected by rivets dispersed. The ground trembled, 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 meter high, some collapsed. People, horses, dogs got stuck in a 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 with sand, which absorbed the viscous mass. Although the factory owners blamed the anarchists for the explosion, the townspeople secured payments totaling $600,000 (today about $8.5 million) from them. According to Bostonians, even now, on hot days, a sugary 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 the oversight of the employees, a large leak of combustible gas occurred, and there was a powerful explosion, equivalent to two and a half tons of dynamite. A tank of 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 was as if it were closed. This led to the formation of a cloud of steam, which exploded from the slightest spark. The initial explosion was recorded as 3.5 on the Richter scale and fragments of the explosion were found within a radius of 6 miles from the explosion.
Many of the fire hydrants failed, and the water pressure in the remaining hydrants dropped dramatically. It took firefighters more than ten hours to bring the situation under control and completely extinguish the flames. 23 people died and 314 were injured.
12. Fire at the pyrotechnic factory in Enschede in 2000 - 23 victims
On May 13, 2000, as a result of a fire at the pyrotechnic factory S.F. Fireworks in the Dutch city of Enschede (Enshede) was an explosion, 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 burned down and was destroyed - 15 streets were burned, 1,500 houses were damaged, and 400 houses were destroyed. In addition to 23 deaths, 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 pyrotechnic factory in 1977, it was located far from the city. As the city grew, new low-cost housing surrounded the warehouses, causing horrendous destruction, injury, and death. Most of the locals had no idea that they lived in such close proximity to the fireworks warehouse.
11. Explosion at a chemical plant in Flixboro - 64 victims
An explosion occurred in Flixborough, England on June 1, 1974, killing 28 people. The accident happened at the Nipro plant, which was engaged in the production of ammonium. The disaster caused a whopping £36 million in property damage. British industry has never known such a catastrophe. The chemical plant in Flixboro has practically ceased to exist.
A chemical plant near the village of Flixboro specialized in the production of caprolactam, the starting product for synthetic fibers.
The accident happened like this: the bypass pipeline connecting reactors 4 and 6 broke, and steam began to escape from the outlets. A cloud of cyclohexane vapors was formed, containing several tens of tons of the substance. The source of ignition of the cloud was probably the torch of the hydrogen plant. Due to an accident at the plant, an explosive mass of heated vapors was thrown into the air, for which the slightest spark was enough to ignite. 45 minutes after the accident, when the mushroom cloud reached the hydrogen plant, there was a powerful explosion. The explosion in its destructive power was equivalent to the explosion of 45 tons of TNT, detonated at a height of 45 m.
About 2,000 buildings outside the enterprise were damaged. In the village of Amcotts, across the River Trent, 73 out of 77 houses were badly damaged. In Flixboro, located at a distance of 1200 m from the center of the explosion, 72 out of 79 houses were destroyed. 64 people died from the explosion and subsequent fire, 75 people at the enterprise and outside were injured of varying severity.
Under pressure from the owners of the Nipro company, plant engineers often deviated from the established technological regulations and ignored safety requirements. The sad experience of this disaster showed that it is necessary for chemical plants to have a high-speed automatic system fire extinguishing system, which allows to eliminate the combustion of solid chemicals no later than 3 seconds.
10 Hot Steel Spill - 35 Victims
On April 18, 2007, 32 people died and 6 were 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 the overhead conveyor. Liquid steel broke through the doors and windows into the adjacent room, where the shift workers were.
Perhaps the most horrifying fact that the study of this catastrophe uncovered is that it could have been prevented. The immediate cause of the accident was the misuse of substandard equipment. The investigation concluded that there was whole line deficiencies and safety breaches that contributed to the accident.
When emergency services reached the crash site, they were stopped by the heat of the molten steel and were unable to reach the victims for a long time. After the steel began to cool, they found 32 victims. Surprisingly, 6 people miraculously survived this accident, and with severe burns were taken to the hospital.
9. The collapse of the train with oil in Lac-Megantic - 47 victims
The explosion of the train with oil occurred on the evening of July 6, 2013 in the town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec, Canada. A train owned by The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, carrying 74 tanks of crude oil, has derailed. As a result, several tanks caught fire and exploded. It is known about 42 dead, 5 more people are 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 on the GE C30-7 #5017 diesel locomotive during engine repair in order to complete the repair as soon as possible. In subsequent operation, these materials collapsed, the locomotive began to smoke heavily. Leaking fuels and lubricants accumulated in the turbocharger housing, which led to a fire on the night of the crash.
The train driver was Tom Harding. At 23:00 the train stopped at Nantes station, on the main track. Tom contacted the dispatcher and reported problems with the diesel, strong black exhaust; the solution of the problem with the diesel locomotive was postponed until the morning, and the driver left to spend the night in a hotel. The train with the diesel locomotive running and dangerous goods was left overnight at an unattended station. At 23:50, the 911 service received a message about a fire on the lead diesel locomotive. The compressor was not working in it, and the pressure in the brake line was decreasing. At 00:56, the pressure dropped to such a level that the hand brakes could not hold the cars and the uncontrolled train went down the slope towards Lac Megantic. At 00:14, the train derailed at a speed of 105 km/h and ended up in the city center. Cars derailed, explosions followed, and burning oil spilled along the railroad.
People in a nearby cafe, feeling the tremors of the earth, decided that an earthquake had begun and hid under the tables, as a result, they did not have time to escape from the fire ... This railway accident became one of the deadliest in Canada.
8. The accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP - 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 "rainy day" for the Russian hydropower industry. As a result of the accident, 75 people died, serious damage was caused to the equipment and premises of the station, and electricity production was suspended. The consequences of the accident were reflected in the ecological situation in the water area adjacent to the HPP, in the social and economic spheres of the region.
At the time of the accident, the HPP was carrying a load of 4100 MW, out of 10 hydroelectric units, 9 were in operation. At 8:13 local time on August 17, hydroelectric unit No. 2 was destroyed, with significant volumes of water flowing through the shaft of the hydroelectric unit under high pressure. The power plant personnel, who were in the engine room, heard a loud bang and saw the release of a powerful column of water.
Streams of water quickly flooded the engine room and the rooms below it. All hydroelectric power plants were flooded, while working GAs experienced short circuits (their flashes are clearly visible on the amateur video of the disaster), which put them out of action.
The non-obviousness of the causes of the accident (according to the Minister of Energy of Russia Shmatko, “this is the largest and most incomprehensible hydropower accident that has ever been in the world”) caused a number of versions that were not confirmed (from terrorism to a water hammer). The most probable cause of the accident is the fatigue failure of the studs that occurred during the operation of the hydraulic unit No. 2 with a temporary impeller and an unacceptable level of vibration in 1981-83.
7. Explosion on the "Piper Alpha" - 167 victims
On July 6, 1988, the Piper Alpha oil platform in the North Sea was destroyed by 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 northeast of Aberdeen and served as the site's oil production control center. The platform included a heliport and accommodation for 200 oilmen 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 who were on the platform at that moment died, only 59 survived. It took 3 weeks to extinguish the fire, with strong 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 a fire. The accident on the Piper Alpha platform led to serious criticism and subsequent revision of the 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 of a fire began to arrive at the warehouses of the Zhuihai company, which transports hazardous chemicals, located in the port of Tianjin. As investigators later found out, it was caused by spontaneous combustion of nitrocellulose dried and heated in the summer sun. Within 30 seconds of the first explosion, a second one occurred - a container of 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 arrived at the scene for a long time could not stop the spread of fire. The fires raged for several days and there were 8 more explosions. The explosions created a huge crater.
The explosions resulted in the death of 173 people, 797 injured, and 8 people are 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, damage totaled $9 billion. Three apartment buildings were found to have been 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 bombing. They are accused of negligence and abuse of power.
5. Val di Stave, dam burst - 268 victims
In northern Italy, over the village of Stave, the Val di Stave dam collapsed on July 19, 1985. The accident destroyed 8 bridges, 63 buildings, 268 people died. After the disaster, during the investigation it was found that there was a bad Maintenance and a small margin of operational safety.
In the upper of the two dams, rainfall made the drainage pipe less efficient and clogged. Water continued to flow into the reservoir and the pressure in the damaged pipe increased, which also caused pressure on the coastal rock. The water began to seep into the soil, liquefy into 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 the waste heap in Nambii - 300 victims
By the 1990s, Nambiya, a mining town in southeast Ecuador, had a reputation for being an "aggressive eco-environment". The local mountains were pitted with miners, riddled with holes from mining, the air is humid and filled with chemicals, toxic gases from the mine and a huge waste heap.
On May 9, 1993, much 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 on an area of about 1 square mile. Most of the city'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 rains, the soil softened, and the worst predictions came true.
3. Texas explosion - 581 victims
A man-made disaster happened on April 16, 1947 in the port of Texas City, USA. A fire aboard the French ship Grandcamp detonated about 2,100 tons of ammonium nitrate (ammonium nitrate), which led to a chain reaction of fires and explosions on nearby ships and oil storage facilities.
The tragedy killed at least 581 people (including all but one Texas City Fire Department), over 5,000 people were injured, and 1,784 were hospitalized. The port and a significant part of the city were completely destroyed, many enterprises were razed to the ground or burned down. More than 1,100 vehicles were damaged and 362 freight cars were wrecked - property damage was 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 fighting measures. 1,394 compensations were paid out, totaling about $17 million.
2. Bhopal disaster - up to 160,000 victims
This is one of the worst man-made disasters in the Indian city of Bhopal. As a result of an accident at a chemical plant owned by the American chemical company Union Carbide, and producing pesticides, the poisonous substance methyl isocyanate was released. It was stored at the factory in three tanks partially dug into the ground, each of which could hold about 60,000 liters of liquid.
The cause of the tragedy was an emergency release of methyl isocyanate vapor, which heated above the boiling point in the factory tank, which led to an increase in pressure and a 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 the nearby slums and Train Station located 2 km.
The Bhopal disaster is the largest in terms of the number of victims in modern history, resulting in the immediate death of at least 18 thousand people, of which 3 thousand died 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. A large number of victims is explained by the high population density, untimely informing residents about the accident, lack of medical staff, as well as adverse weather conditions - a cloud of heavy vapors was carried by the wind.
Union Carbide, responsible for the tragedy, paid the 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 Union Carbide Indian executives guilty of negligence resulting in loss of life. The convicts were sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 100,000 rupees (approximately $2,100).
1. Tragedy at the Banqiao Dam - 171,000 dead
The designers of the dam cannot even be blamed for this catastrophe, it was designed for severe floods, but this one was completely unprecedented. In August 1975, a typhoon broke through the Banqiao Dam in western China, killing about 171,000 people. The dam was built in the 1950s to generate electricity and prevent floods. Engineers have developed it with a margin of safety for a thousand years.
But on those fateful days in early August 1975, Typhoon Nina immediately produced over 40 inches of rain, more than the area's annual rainfall total in just one day. After several days of even heavier rains, the dam gave way and was washed away on 8 August.
The break of the dam caused a wave 33 feet high, 7 miles wide, which traveled at a speed of 30 miles per hour. In total, more than 60 dams and additional reservoirs were destroyed due to the destruction 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 natural disaster.
The war claims tens of thousands of human lives, but even the most bloody cannot be compared with the elements: the planet does not spare us - and does not even pay attention to the number of victims affected by cyclones, floods and other terrible misfortunes. Which is worse - a tornado or a fire? What are the chances of surviving a volcanic eruption? What about an avalanche? Unfortunately, the answer in both cases is minimal. We have collected 10 of the most terrible natural disasters in the history of mankind: apparently, nature begins, gradually, to punish us for the imprudent destruction of the planet.
Eruption of Mont Pelee 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.
Flooding in China
1931 The beginning of the 31st year was a terrible test for the entire people of China. A series of terrible floods, which modern historians call the largest natural disaster in the history of mankind, claimed almost 4 million lives.
Fire in Kursha-2
1936 The summer of 1936 was very hot. The fire that started near the village was blown out by the wind. The fire moved towards the people. At night, a train approached the village, work began to save the logging. Already 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 laden with logs started from him. People were burned alive. About 1200 people died in one night.
Avalanche Huascarana
1970 Earthquake off the coast of Peru destabilizes the northern slope of the majestic double-humped mountain of Huascaran. An avalanche of ice and rocks rushed down at a speed of 180 miles per hour. Located on the spur of Huascaran, the town of Jungau has already encountered 80 million cubic meters of mud, ice and snow. Of the 25,000 inhabitants of the village, no one survived.
Cyclone Bhola
1970 This tropical cyclone is recognized as one of the most destructive natural disasters modern world. The storm tide that hit the islands of the Ganges delta claimed the lives of 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: the rural areas of Iran were completely covered with a three-meter layer of snow. Some villages were literally buried under avalanches. Authorities subsequently counted as many as 4,000 dead.
Tanshan earthquake
1976 This natural disaster occurred in Chinese city Tangshan. At about four o'clock in the morning, at a depth of 22 kilometers, there was a strong earthquake. The city was destroyed to the ground, none of the 655,000 people survived.
Tornado in Daulatpur
1989 A deadly tornado, the radius of which exceeded 1.5 kilometers, was noticed by observers on the morning of April 26. A little later, this giant hit Bangladesh. The power of the tornado was enough to lift entire houses into the air with ease. People were literally torn to pieces: in just a day, about one and a half thousand people died, another 12 thousand ended up in the hospital.
European heat
2003 A heat wave in the summer of 2003 claimed the lives of 70,000 people. According to the authorities, the local health care system was simply not designed for such incredible workloads. It is noteworthy that forecasters claim the repetition of such a heat attack approximately every thirteen years.
Tsunami in the Indian Ocean
2004 An underwater earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004 caused a tsunami of incredible strength. The earthquake itself was recognized as the third largest in history in general. A tsunami with waves exceeding 15 meters high hit the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people.Sometimes it is rather difficult to assess the scale of a particular global catastrophe, because the consequences of some of them can manifest themselves many years after the incident itself.
In this article, we will present the 13 worst disasters in the world. Among them are incidents that occurred on the water, in the air, and on the ground, through the fault of a person and for reasons beyond his control, widely known and those that are not known to a very large circle of people.
The wreck of the superliner Titanic
Date Time: 14.04.1912 - 15.04.1912
Primary Victims: at least 1.5 thousand people
Secondary victims: unknown
The British superliner "Titanic", which was called the "most luxurious ship" of its time and "unsinkable", has gained worldwide fame. Unfortunately, sad. On the night of April 14-15, during its first flight, the superliner collided with an iceberg and sank after more than two hours. The accident was accompanied by numerous casualties among passengers and crew.
On April 10, 1912, the liner went on its last voyage from the port of Southampton to American New York, with almost 2.5 thousand people on board - passengers and crew members. One of the reasons for the disaster was that there was a tense ice situation along the route of the liner, but for some reason the captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, did not attach any importance to this even after receiving numerous warnings about floating icebergs from other ships. The liner was moving almost at its maximum speed (21-22 knots); there is a version that Smith fulfilled the unofficial requirement of the White Star Line, which owned the Titanic, to receive the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic, the prize for the fastest crossing of the ocean, on the first voyage.
Late at night on April 14, the superliner collided with an iceberg. An ice block, which the lookout did not notice in time, pierced the five bow compartments of the ship on the starboard side, which began to fill with water. The problem turned out to be that the designers did not count on the occurrence of a 90-meter hole in the ship, and here the entire survivability system turned out to be powerless. In addition, there were not enough lifeboats on the "ultra-safe" and "unsinkable" ship, and those that were, for the most part, were irrationally used (12-20 people sailed on the first boats, 65 on the last -80 with a capacity of 60 people). The result of the disaster was the death, according to various sources, from 1496 to 1522 passengers and crew members.
Today, the remains of the Titanic lie at a depth of about 3.5 km in the Atlantic. The ship's hull is gradually being destroyed and will finally disappear at the turn of the 21st and 22nd centuries.
Explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
Date Time: 26.04.1986
Primary Victims: 31 people from the Chernobyl-4 duty shift and fire brigades who arrived to extinguish the fire
Secondary victims: 124 people suffered acute radiation sickness but survived; up to 4 thousand liquidators died within 10 years after the liquidation; from 600,000 to a million suffered from the elimination of the consequences of radioactive contamination and stay in contaminated territories or in the direction of travel radioactive cloud
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is a man-made disaster on the territory of Ukraine, between the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl. As a result of the explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a large amount of radioactive substances, which led to the contamination of the surrounding territories and the formation of a radioactive cloud that swept across the territory of the USSR, Europe and reached the USA.
The accident occurred due to several factors - haste on the part of the Chernobyl management, insufficient competence of the Chernobyl-4 duty shift, errors in the design and construction of the RBMK-1000 reactor and the nuclear power unit itself. On the morning of April 26, tests of the reactor were planned at Chernobyl-4, which were supposed to demonstrate the possibility of operating the reactor cooling system in the interval between shutting down the reactor and starting emergency diesel generators. However, due to some factors, the test was postponed to the night of April 26-27, due to which it was carried out by an unprepared and unannounced shift, and xenon gas accumulated in the reactor during 10 hours of idle operation.
All this in total led to the fact that when the reactor was artificially shut down, its power first fell below a critical level, and then began to grow like an avalanche. Attempts to activate AZ-5 (emergency protection) instead of eliminating the emergency worked as an additional catalyst for increasing the temperature of the reactor, and as a result a powerful explosion occurred. Only one person died directly in the explosion, another died a few hours later from his injuries. The rest of the victims received shock doses of radiation during the firefighting and primary clean-up process, which caused another 29 deaths during the following months of 1986.
The population of the first 10-kilometer, and then the 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was resettled. The resettled people were told that they would return in three days. However, no one actually came back. The elimination of the consequences of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant took more than a year, costing billions of rubles, 240 thousand people passed through the ChEZ in 1986-1987. The city of Pripyat was completely abandoned, hundreds of villages and villages were razed, Chernobyl-4 is now partially populated city- the military, police and employees of the remaining three units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant live there.
Terrorist act 9/11
Date Time: 11.09.2001
Primary Victims: 19 terrorists, 2977 police, military, firefighters, medics and civilians
Secondary victims: 24 missing, exact number of injured unknown
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (better known as 9/11) are the largest terrorist attack in American history. A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks claimed about three thousand lives and caused tremendous destruction of the attacked buildings.
According to the official version of events, on the morning of September 11, four groups of a total of 19 terrorists, armed only with plastic knives, hijacked four passenger airliners, directing them at targets - the towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and the White House (or Capitol) in Washington. The first three planes hit objects, what happened on board the fourth is not known for certain - according to the official version, the passengers fought with the terrorists, which caused the plane to crash in Pennsylvania before reaching its target.
Of the more than 16,000 people who were in both towers of the WTC, at least 1966 people died - mainly those who were in the places of attack by aircraft and on the floors above, and also at the time of the collapse of the towers provided assistance to the victims and carried out the evacuation. 125 people died in the Pentagon building. All 246 passengers and crew members of the hijacked planes were also killed, along with 19 terrorists. During the liquidation of the consequences of the terrorist attack, 341 firefighters, 2 paramedics, 60 police officers and 8 ambulance officers died. The total death toll in New York alone was 2,606.
The 9/11 terrorist attack was a real tragedy in the United States, and citizens of another 91 states were also killed. The attack provoked the US invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, and later - in Syria under the flag of the fight against terrorism. Disputes about the true causes of the terrorist attack and the course of events on this tragic day have not subsided so far.
Accident at Fukushima-1
Date Time: 11.03.2011
Primary Victims: 1 person died from the consequences of radiation contamination, about 50 people died during the evacuation
Secondary victims: up to 150,000 people evacuated from the radioactive contamination zone, more than 1,000 of them died within a year after the disaster
The catastrophe that occurred on March 11, 2011, simultaneously combines the features of man-made and natural disasters. A massive magnitude 9 earthquake followed by a tsunami caused the Daiichi nuclear plant's power supply to fail, shutting down the cooling process for the nuclear fuel reactors.
In addition to the monstrous destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami, this incident led to serious radioactive contamination of the territory and water area. In addition, the Japanese authorities had to evacuate up to one hundred and fifty thousand people due to the high likelihood of serious illness due to exposure to severe radioactive exposure. The combination of all these consequences gives the Fukushima accident the right to be called one of the worst disasters in the world in the twenty-first century.
The total damage from the accident is estimated at $100 billion. This amount includes the cost of eliminating the consequences and paying compensation. But at the same time, we must not forget that work to eliminate the consequences of the disaster is still ongoing, which accordingly increases this amount.
In 2013, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was officially closed, and only works to eliminate the consequences of the accident are being carried out on its territory. Experts believe that it will take at least forty years to put the building and the contaminated area in order.
The consequences of the Fukushima accident are a reassessment of safety measures in nuclear energy, a fall in the cost of natural uranium, and, accordingly, a decrease in share prices of uranium mining companies.
Collision at Los Rodeos Airport
Date Time: 27.03.1977
Primary Victims: 583 people - passengers and crew of both airliners
Secondary victims: unknown
Perhaps most big disaster in the world, which occurred as a result of a collision of aircraft, was a collision of two aircraft in the Canary Islands (Tenerife) in 1977. At Los Rodeos Airport, two Boeing 747 airliners owned by KLM and Pan American collided on the runway. As a result, 583 out of 644 people died, including both passengers and crew of airliners.
One of the main reasons for this situation was the terrorist attack at Las Palmas airport, which was staged by terrorists from the MPAIAC organization (Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario). The attack itself did not cause any casualties, but the airport authorities closed the airport and stopped accepting planes, fearing repeated incidents.
Because of this, Los Rodeos was overloaded, as planes were sent to it, which followed in Las Palmas, in particular two Boeing 747 flights PA1736 and KL4805. At the same time, one cannot fail to note the fact that the plane owned by Pan American had enough fuel to land at another airport, but the pilots obeyed the dispatcher's order.
The collision itself was caused by fog, which severely limited visibility, as well as communication difficulties between controllers and pilots, which were caused by the heavy accent of the controllers, and the fact that the pilots constantly interrupted each other.
clash « Doña Paz" with a tanker « Vector"
Date Time: 20.12.1987
Primary Victims: up to 4386 people, of which 11 are members of the crew of the tanker "Vector"
Secondary victims: unknown
On December 20, 1987, the Philippine-registered passenger ferry Doña Paz (Dona Paz) collided with the oil tanker Vector, causing the worst disaster in the world, which occurred in Peaceful time on the water.
At the time of the collision, the ferry was following its standard Manila-Catbalogan route, which it operated twice a week. On December 20, 1987, around 06:30, the Doña Paz left Tacloban and headed for Manila. At about 10:30 p.m., the ferry passed through the Strait of Tablas near Marinduque, according to surviving eyewitnesses, the weather was clear, but with rough seas.
The collision occurred after the passengers fell asleep, the ferry collided with the tanker "Vector", which was transporting gasoline and oil products. Immediately after the collision, a strong fire broke out due to the fact that oil products spilled into the sea. A strong blow and a fire almost instantly caused panic among passengers, in addition, according to the survivors, the ferry did not have the required number of life jackets.
Only 26 people survived, of which 24 were passengers from Doña Paz and two people from the Vector tanker.
Mass poisoning in Iraq, 1971
Date Time: autumn 1971 - end of March 1972
Primary Victims: officially - from 459 to 6000 deaths, unofficially - up to 100,000 deaths
Secondary victims: according to various sources, up to 3 million people who could somehow suffer from poisoning
At the end of 1971, a consignment of grain treated with methylmercury was imported to Iraq from Mexico. Of course, the grain was not intended for processing into food, and was to be used only for planting. Unfortunately, the local population did not know Spanish, and accordingly all the warning labels that said "Do not eat" were not clear.
It should also be noted that the grain was delivered to Iraq late, as the planting season had already passed. All this led to the fact that in some villages the grain treated with methylmercury began to be eaten.
After eating this grain, symptoms such as numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, and impaired coordination were observed. As a result of criminal negligence, according to official data, about one hundred thousand people received mercury poisoning, of which 459 to 6 thousand died (unofficial data show other pictures - up to 3 million victims, up to 100 thousand deaths).
This incident led the World Health Organization to take a closer look at the circulation of grain, and began to take the labeling of potentially dangerous products more seriously.
Mass destruction of sparrows in China
Date Time: 1958-1961
Primary Victims: at least 1.96 billion sparrows, no human casualties known
Secondary victims: 10 to 30 million Chinese starved to death in 1960-1961
As part of the economic policy of the "Great Leap Forward", in China, under the leadership of the Communist Party and Mao Zedong, a large-scale fight against agricultural pests was carried out, among which the Chinese authorities singled out the four most terrible - mosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.
Employees of the Chinese Research Institute of Zoology calculated that due to sparrows during the year, the volume of grain was lost, with which it would be possible to feed about thirty-five million people. Based on this, a plan was developed to exterminate these birds, which was approved by Mao Zedong on March 18, 1958.
All peasants actively began to hunt birds. The most effective method was to keep them from sinking to the ground. To do this, adults and children shouted, beat in basins, waved poles, rags, etc. This made it possible to frighten the sparrows and prevent them from landing on the ground for fifteen minutes. As a result, the birds just dropped dead.
After a year of sparrow hunting, the harvest really increased. However, later caterpillars, locusts, and other pests that ate the shoots began to actively breed. This led to the fact that a year later, crops fell sharply, and famine set in, which led to the deaths of 10 to 30 million people.
Piper Alpha oil rig disaster
Date Time: 06.07.1988
Primary Victims: 167 platform personnel
Secondary victims: unknown
The Piper Alpha platform was built in 1975, and oil production on it started in 1976. Over time, it was converted for gas production. However, on July 6, 1988, there was a gas leak that caused an explosion.
Due to the indecisive and ill-considered actions of the personnel, 167 people died out of 226 who were on the platform.
Of course, after this event, oil and gas production on this platform was completely stopped. Insured losses amounted to about US$3.4 billion. This is one of the most famous disasters in the world associated with the oil industry.
The death of the Aral Sea
Date Time: 1960 - present day
Primary Victims: unknown
Secondary victims: unknown
This incident is the biggest environmental disaster on the territory of the former Soviet Union. Once the Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake, after the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior in North America, Lake Victoria in Africa. Now in its place is the Aralkum Desert.
Cause of extinction Aral Sea is the creation of new irrigation channels for agricultural enterprises in the territory of Turkmenistan, which took water from the Syrdarya and Amudarya rivers. Because of this, the lake strongly receded from the shore, which led to the exposure of the bottom of the covered sea salt, pesticides and chemicals.
Due to the natural evaporation of the Aral Sea during the period from 1960 to 2007, the sea lost about a thousand cubic kilometers of water. In 1989, the reservoir split into two parts, and in 2003, the volume of water was about 10% of the original.
The result of this incident was serious changes in climate and landscape. In addition, out of 178 species of vertebrates that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 remained.
Deepwater Horizon oil platform explosion
Date Time: 20.04.2010
Primary Victims: 11 people from the platform personnel, 2 accident liquidators
Secondary victims: 17 platform personnel
The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform on April 20, 2010 is considered one of the largest man-made disasters in terms of negative impact on ecological situation. Directly from the explosion, 11 people died and 17 were injured. Two more people died during the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.
Due to the fact that pipes were damaged from the explosion at a depth of 1500 meters, in 152 days approximately five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea, which created a slick with an area of 75 thousand kilometers, in addition, 1770 kilometers of the coast were polluted.
The oil spill endangered 400 animal species and also led to a ban on fishing.
Eruption of Mont Pelee volcano
Date Time: 8.05.1902
Primary Victims: from 28 to 40 thousand people
Secondary victims: not established for certain
On May 8, 1902, one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions in human history occurred. This incident led to the emergence of a new classification of volcanic eruptions, and changed the attitude of many scientists to volcanology.
The volcano woke up in April 1902, and within a month hot vapors and gases, as well as lava, accumulated inside. A month later, a huge grayish cloud erupted at the foot of the volcano. A feature of this eruption is that the lava came out not from the top, but from side craters that were located on the slopes. As a result of a powerful explosion, one of the main ports of the island of Martinique, the city of Saint-Pierre, was completely destroyed. The disaster claimed the lives of at least 28 thousand people.
Tropical Cyclone Nargis
Date Time: 02.05.2008
Primary Victims: up to 90 thousand people
Secondary victims: at least 1.5 million injured, 56 thousand missing
This disaster unfolded as follows:
- Cyclone Nargis formed on April 27, 2008, in the Bay of Bengal, and initially moved towards the coast of India, in a northwesterly direction;
- On April 28, it stops moving, but the speed of the wind in spiral eddies began to increase significantly. Because of this, the cyclone began to be classified as a hurricane;
- On April 29, the wind speed reached 160 kilometers per hour, and the cyclone resumed movement, but already in a northeasterly direction;
- On May 1, the direction of the wind movement changed to the east, and at the same time the wind was constantly increasing;
- On May 2, the wind speed reached 215 kilometers per hour, and at noon it reaches the coast of the Myanmar province of Ayeyarwaddy.
According to the UN, as a result of the violence of the elements, 1.5 million people were affected, of which 90,000 died and 56,000 went missing. In addition, seriously injured Big City Yangon and many settlements were completely destroyed. Part of the country was left without telephone, Internet and electricity. The streets were littered with debris, debris from buildings and trees.
To eliminate the consequences of this catastrophe, the combined forces of many countries of the world and such international organizations like UN, EU, UNESCO.
Disasters have been known since ancient times - these are volcanic eruptions, and powerful earthquakes, and a tornado. In the last century, there have been many water disasters and terrible nuclear disasters.
Worst water disasters
Man has been sailing on sailboats, boats, ships across the vastness of the oceans and seas for hundreds of years. During this time, there have been a huge number of disasters, shipwrecks and accidents.In 1915 German submarine A British passenger liner was torpedoed. The ship sank in eighteen minutes, being at a distance of thirteen kilometers from the coast of Ireland. One thousand one hundred and ninety-eight people died.
In April 1944, in the port of Bombay, an terrible disaster. It all started with the fact that when unloading a single-screw steamer, which was loaded with gross violations of safety regulations, there was a strong explosion. It is known that the ship had one and a half tons of explosives, several tons of cotton, sulfur, wood, gold bars. After the first explosion, there was a second. The burning cotton scattered in a radius of almost a kilometer. Almost all ships, warehouses were burning, fires started in the city. It took only two weeks to put them out. As a result, about two and a half thousand people ended up in hospitals, and one thousand three hundred and seventy-six people were killed. The port was restored only after seven months.
The most famous of the disasters on the water is the death of the Titanic. Colliding with an iceberg during the first voyage, the ship sank. More than one and a half thousand people died.
In December 1917, near the city of Halifax, the French warship Mont Blanc collided with the Norwegian ship Imo. There was a strong explosion, which led to the destruction of not only the port, but also part of the city. The fact is that Mont Blanc was loaded exclusively with explosives. About two thousand people died, nine thousand were injured. This is the most powerful explosion of the pre-nuclear era.
Three thousand one hundred and thirty people died on a French cruiser after a torpedo attack by a German submarine in 1916. As a result of the torpedoing of the German floating hospital "General Steuben", about three thousand six hundred and eight people died.
In December 1987, a Philippine passenger ferry named Dona Paz collided with the tanker Vector. Four thousand three hundred and seventy-five people died in the process.
In May 1945, a tragedy occurred in the Baltic Sea, which claimed the lives of about eight thousand people. The cargo ship "Tilbek" and the liner "Cap Arkona" came under fire from British aircraft. As a result of the torpedoing of the Goya ship by a Soviet submarine in the spring of 1945, six thousand nine hundred people died.
"Wilhelm Gustlov" - the so-called German passenger liner, sunk by a submarine under the command of Marinesco in January 1945. The exact number of victims is unknown, approximately - it is nine thousand people.
The worst disasters in Russia
There are several terrible catastrophes that have occurred on the territory of Russia. So, in June 1989, one of the largest railway accidents in Russia occurred near Ufa. There was a massive explosion as two passenger trains passed. An unlimited cloud of fuel-air mixture exploded, which was formed due to an accident on a nearby pipeline. According to some sources, five hundred and seventy-five people died, according to others - six hundred and forty-five. Another six hundred people were wounded. 
The death of the Aral Sea is considered the worst environmental disaster in the territory of the former USSR. For a number of reasons: soil, social, biological, the Aral Sea has almost completely dried up in fifty years. Most of its tributaries in the sixties were used for irrigation and some other agricultural purposes. The Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world. Since the influx fresh water decreased significantly, the lake gradually died.
In the summer of 2012, a massive flood occurred in the Krasnodar Territory. It is considered the largest disaster in Russia. For two days in July, a five-month rainfall fell. The city of Krymsk was almost completely washed away by water. Officially, 179 people were declared dead, of which 159 were residents of Krymsk. More than 34 thousand local residents suffered.
The worst nuclear disasters
A huge number of people are exposed to nuclear disasters. So in April 1986, one of the power units exploded Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Radioactive substances released into the atmosphere settled on nearby villages and cities. This accident is one of the most devastating of its kind. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the liquidation of the accident. Several hundred people died or were injured. A thirty-kilometer exclusion zone has been formed around the nuclear power plant. So far, the scale of the disaster has not been clarified.In Japan in March 2011, an explosion occurred at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant during an earthquake. Because of this, a large amount of radioactive substances entered the atmosphere. At first, officials hushed up the scale of the disaster.
After Chernobyl disaster The most significant nuclear accident is considered to have occurred in 1999 in the Japanese city of Tokaimura. An accident occurred at a uranium processing plant. Six hundred people were exposed to radiation, four people died.
The worst disaster in human history
The explosion of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 is considered the most destructive catastrophe for the biosphere in the entire history of mankind. The platform itself went under water after the explosion. As a result, a huge amount of oil products got into the oceans. The spill lasted one hundred and fifty-two days. The oil film covered an area equal to seventy-five thousand square kilometers in the Gulf of Mexico. 
In terms of the number of victims, the largest disaster is considered to be that in December 1984, the year occurred in India in the city of Bhapol. There was a chemical leak at one of the factories. Eighteen thousand people died. Until now, the causes of this catastrophe have not been fully elucidated.
It is impossible not to say about the most terrible fire that occurred in London in 1666. The fire spread at lightning speed throughout the city, about seventy thousand houses were destroyed, about eighty thousand people died. The fire continued for four days.
Terrible are not only disasters, but also entertainment. The site has a rating of the scariest rides in the world.
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We want to think that tragedies at least teach us something, like helping each other through difficult situations and working together to solve problems.
But sometimes, even when the disaster is over, the tragedy still continues. People plunge into chaos and make the worst moments in the life of mankind even worse. And as a result, the details of the darkest events become so gruesome that they tend to be omitted from history textbooks.
1. Tiananmen Square events - China billed the families of the dead for the spent bullets
In 1989, after the death of the controversial state and politician Hu Yaobang, Chinese students took to Tiananmen Square to try to make real change in China. They put forward a list of demands and went on a hunger strike in the hope of putting an end to 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. In this unequal battle, at least 300 students were killed. According to some estimates, the death toll reached 2,700 people.
Usually the story ends there, but there is one little detail that makes it even worse. According to some sources, after the murder, the Chinese government billed the family of the victims for the spent bullets. The parents of protesting students had to pay 27 cents (in today's money) for each bullet fired at their child.
The Chinese government denied the accusations against them. However, there is every reason to believe that the above reports were true.
2. My Song Massacre - President Nixon pardoned the man responsible for this crime
The most horrific incident that occurred during the Vietnam War is considered to be the My Son Massacre. In 1968, American soldiers brutally massacred 350 civilians in South Vietnam. They raped women, maimed children - and did not suffer any punishment for this.
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 ended up in jail. He was put under house arrest, which, however, did not last long. Colley was under house arrest for only three years, and then 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. For his bravery and heroism, Thompson received death threats as a reward. Every morning, unknown people left mutilated animals on the porch of his house. For the rest of his life, Thompson was forced to deal 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 sinking of Pompeii is one of the most infamous natural disasters in human history. The entire city was immersed in a sea of volcanic ash that claimed the lives of thousands of people.
However, compared to Herculaneum, Pompeii, so to speak, got off lightly. A person who witnessed the volcanic eruption that occurred in 79 AD described this terrible catastrophe as follows: "A huge black cloud descended on the land and sea, accompanied by bright flashes of flame."
This huge black cloud covered the whole of Herculaneum. It became incredibly hot on its streets - the air temperature reached more than 500 degrees Celsius. In such unbearable conditions, the skin of people instantly burned, their bones turned black, and their heads could not stand it and literally exploded.
4. Terror attacks of September 11, 2001 - Fallout led to an increase in the incidence of cancer and the number of car accidents
On September 11, 2001, when planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, about 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 of flying, resulting in a 20 percent drop in air ticket sales. Instead, everyone began to actively use cars, despite the fact that the ground mode of transport is considered more dangerous than air. In the twelve months after the attack, about 1,600 Americans died in car accidents - just because they were afraid to fly on airplanes.
But the worst of the consequences of the events of September 11, 2001 is the increase in the incidence of cancer. The twin towers were built from 400 tons of asbestos, which after the explosion turned into dust and spread throughout the city. According to some reports, more than 400 thousand people suffered from the asbestos cloud. As a result, cancer rates in New York have risen significantly since the tragedy. In addition, over 70 percent of the people who helped deal with the aftermath of the explosion now suffer from lung problems.
5The Great Famine In Ireland - Queen Victoria Forbade The Sultan To Help Her People
When famine came to Ireland, Majid Abdul Khan, Sultan Ottoman Empire volunteered to help the country. In 1847, he loaded the ships with food and offered £10,000 in aid to Ireland to fight the crisis.
Oddly enough, but British diplomats rejected his proposal. They explained this by saying that, according to royal protocol, the amount of foreign aid should not exceed the amount that Queen Victoria is ready to donate to save her people. At their request, the Sultan reduced his donation to £1,000.
Be that as it may, the Irish were still delighted with his "gesture of great generosity." In 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 middle of the XIV century ruined the lives of 75 to 200 million people, destroying about a third of the population of Europe. It was a terrible tragedy in which, oddly enough, the Jews were blamed.
The fact is that Europeans considered the plague part of a Jewish conspiracy. They claimed that the Jews were poisoning wells all over the country to make the Christian people suffer. At first it was just a theory, which later received "confirmation". The Inquisition began to hunt for the Jews; they were tortured until they agreed that they were responsible for causing the plague. After that, 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 the Jewish conspiracy, but people believed otherwise. Their vengeance spared no one. The city of Strasbourg even passed a law that forbade 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 by pointing 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's police chief, confirmed the incident. "They don't belong here," he commented on his refusal to help New Orleans refugees.
8 Wounded Knee Massacre - Twenty Soldiers Awarded Medals Of Honor
In 1890, American troops attacked the camp of the Lakota Indian people. Approximately 200 innocent men, women and children died in the attack. The people who made it given event went down in history as the Massacre at Wounded Knee) were the 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 awarding of Sergeant Toy, it was said that he was receiving a medal "for courage shown in the fight against 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 victims from escaping. He forced them to hide in a ravine, where they were shot dead by Lieutenant Gresham.
Sergeant Loyd, one of the 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. What prompted him to commit suicide is not known. Perhaps it was conscience.
Source 9The Great Fire of London - Citizens Hanged a Mentally Handicapped Man
Everyone who knew Robert Hubert considered him "not quite a healthy man." In all likelihood, he was mentally retarded or insane. He could not utter a word English language 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 broke out. He showed up two days later. The man wandered the streets, constantly repeating the word "Yes!". In 1666, to prove the guilt of a person, it was not necessary to make special efforts. The mob grabbed Hubert and dragged him to the police station.
There he answered everything that he was asked with the word “Yes!”. He even "confessed" to having been paid a shilling by a Frenchman to set fire to London. 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 broke out, the poor fellow was not in town. But by then it was already too late.
10. "Titanic" - Invoices 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 at the very second when the Titanic began to sink. The company did not want to pay the crew members money for not fulfilling 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 the freight if they wanted to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones. Most of them could not afford it, which is why today many of those who died in the tragedy have memorials instead of graves.
For musicians, things were even worse. The members of the orchestra, who desperately continued to play even as the ship sank, were registered as independent contractors. This meant that the White Star Line, by law, had nothing to do with them. The families of other crew members received compensation for the loss of breadwinners, and not a penny was paid to the relatives of the dead musicians. But they were billed for "spoiled form."