Monstrous disasters. Major disasters of the 20th century

Disasters have been known for a long time - volcanic eruptions, powerful earthquakes, and tornadoes. In the last century there have been many water disasters and terrible nuclear disasters.

The worst disasters on the water

In 1915, a British passenger liner was torpedoed by a German submarine. The ship sank in eighteen minutes, being thirteen kilometers from the coast of Ireland. One thousand one hundred and ninety-eight people died.

In April 1944, a terrible disaster occurred in the port of Bombay. It all started with the fact that during the unloading of a single-screw steamer, which was loaded with gross violations of safety regulations, a violent explosion occurred. It is known that the ship carried one and a half tons of explosives, several tons of cotton, sulfur, wood, and gold bars. After the first explosion, a second one sounded. The burning cotton scattered over a radius of almost a kilometer. Almost all the ships and warehouses burned, and fires started in the city. They were extinguished only after two weeks. As a result, about two and a half thousand people were hospitalized, one thousand three hundred and seventy-six people died. The port was restored only after seven months.

The most famous water disaster is the sinking of the Titanic. Colliding with an iceberg during its first voyage, the ship sank. More than one and a half thousand people died.

In December 1917, the French warship Mont Blanc collided with the Norwegian ship Imo near the city of Halifax. A powerful explosion occurred, leading 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 the 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, the Philippine passenger ferry Dona Paz collided with the tanker Vector. Four thousand three hundred and seventy-five people died.

In May 1945, a tragedy occurred in the Baltic Sea, which claimed the lives of about eight thousand people. The cargo ship Tilbeck and the liner Cap Arcona came under fire from British aircraft. As a result of the torpedoing of the Goya by a Soviet submarine in the spring of 1945, six thousand nine hundred people died.

“Wilhelm Gustlow” was the name of the German passenger liner sunk by a submarine under the command of Marinesco in January 1945. The exact number of victims is unknown, approximately nine thousand people.

The worst disasters in Russia

The death of the Aral Sea is considered the worst environmental disaster on 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 were used for irrigation and some other agricultural purposes in the sixties. The Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world. Since the influx of fresh water was significantly reduced, the lake gradually died.

In the summer of 2012, a massive flood occurred in the Krasnodar region. It is considered the largest disaster on Russian territory. In two July days, five months' worth of precipitation 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 were affected.

The worst nuclear disasters

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 the Chernobyl disaster, the most significant nuclear accident is considered to be the one that 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

In terms of the number of victims, the disaster that occurred in India in the city of Bhapole in December 1984 is considered the largest. There was a chemical leak at one of the factories. Eighteen thousand people died. Until now, the causes of this disaster have not been fully elucidated.

It is impossible not to mention the worst fire that occurred in London in 1666. The fire spread across the city with lightning speed, destroying about seventy thousand houses and killing about eighty thousand people. The fire lasted for four days.

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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 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 located 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, a peasant uprising took place in China, led by 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 destructive earthquake in human history took place, 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 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 during 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 most destructive 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 cyclone of the 1970 North Indian Ocean hurricane season and the strongest of the 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 were slow to arrive, and transport was slow to deliver desperately needed supplies to 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 human history, which, according to various 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, strong men held onto old trees with thick branches and called for help. In one place, a box containing a dead child, whom his parents had placed there for safety, was nailed to a tree. 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. Over large areas, the water did not recede 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. A stormy stream swept through the city and the province. In one morning alone, about 10,000 people died in Gaoyu.

Sometimes it is quite difficult to assess the scale of a particular global catastrophe, because the consequences of some of them can appear many years after the incident itself.

In this article we will present the 10 worst disasters in the world that were not caused by deliberate actions. Among them are incidents that occurred on water, in the air, and on land.

Fukushima accident

The disaster, which occurred on March 11, 2011, simultaneously combines the features of man-made and natural disasters. A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of nine and the subsequent tsunami caused a failure of the power supply system of the Daiichi nuclear plant, as a result of which the cooling process of reactors with nuclear fuel was stopped.

In addition to the monstrous destruction that was 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 more than two hundred thousand people due to the high likelihood of severe illness due to exposure to severe radiation. The combination of all these consequences gives the right to the Fukushima accident 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 costs of eliminating the consequences and paying compensation. But 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 work to eliminate the consequences of the accident is being carried out on its territory. Experts believe that it will take at least forty years to clean up the building and the contaminated area.

The consequences of the Fukushima accident are a reassessment of safety measures in the nuclear energy industry, a drop in the price of natural uranium, and, accordingly, a decrease in the prices of shares of uranium mining companies.

Collision at Los Rodeos Airport

Perhaps the world's worst aircraft accident occurred in the Canary Islands (Tenerife) in 1977. At Los Rodeos airport, two Boeing 747 airliners, which belonged to KLM and Pan American, collided on the runway. As a result, 583 out of 644 people died, including both passengers and airline crews.

One of the main reasons for this situation was the terrorist attack at Las Palmas airport, which was carried out by terrorists from the MPAIAC organization (Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario). The terrorist attack itself did not cause any casualties, but the airport administration closed the airport and stopped accepting planes, fearing further incidents.

Because of this, Los Rodeos became congested as it was diverted by planes that were bound for 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 air traffic controller's orders.

The cause of the collision itself was fog, which severely limited visibility, as well as difficulties in negotiations between controllers and pilots, which were caused by the thick accents of the controllers, and the fact that the pilots were constantly interrupting each other.

Collision between Dona Paz and tanker Vector

On December 20, 1987, the Philippine-registered passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector, resulting in the world's worst peacetime disaster on the water.

At the time of the collision, the ferry was following its standard Manila-Catbalogan route, which it travels twice a week. On December 20, 1987, at about 06:30, the Dona Paz sailed from Tacloban bound for Manila. At approximately 10:30 p.m., the ferry was passing through the Tablas Strait near Marinduque, and survivors reported clear but rough seas.

The collision occurred after the passengers had fallen asleep; the ferry collided with the Vector tanker, 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. The strong impact and fire almost instantly caused panic among passengers; in addition, according to survivors, there were not the required number of life jackets on the ferry.

Only 26 people survived, of which 24 were passengers from Donya Paz and two people from the Vector tanker.

Mass poisoning in Iraq 1971

At the end of 1971, a shipment of grain treated with methylmercury was imported into Iraq from Mexico. Of course, the grain was not intended to be processed into food, and was to be used only for planting. Unfortunately, the local population did not know Spanish, and accordingly all the warning signs that read “Do not eat.”

It should also be noted that the grain was delivered to Iraq late, since the planting season had already passed. All this led to the fact that in some villages grain treated with methylmercury began to be eaten.

After eating this grain, symptoms such as numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, and loss of coordination were observed. As a result of criminal negligence, about one hundred thousand people received mercury poisoning, of whom about six thousand died.

This incident led the World Health Organization to monitor grain circulation more closely and take the labeling of potentially hazardous products more seriously.

Mass destruction of sparrows in China

Despite the fact that we do not include in our list disasters caused by the deliberate actions of people, this case is an exception, since it was caused by banal stupidity and insufficient knowledge of ecology. Nevertheless, this incident fully deserves the title of one of the most terrible disasters in the world.

As part of the “Great Leap Forward” economic policy, a large-scale fight against agricultural pests was carried out, among which the Chinese authorities identified the four most terrible ones - mosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.

Employees of the Chinese Research Institute of Zoology calculated that because of sparrows, the amount of grain that could feed about thirty-five million people was lost during the year. Based on this, a plan was developed to exterminate these birds, which was approved by Mao Zedong on March 18, 1958.

All the peasants began to actively hunt birds. The most effective method was to keep them from falling to the ground. To do this, adults and children shouted, hit 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 simply dropped dead.

After a year of hunting sparrows, 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 after another year, harvests fell sharply, and famine occurred, which led to the death of 10 to 30 million people.

Piper Alpha oil rig disaster

The Piper Alpha platform was built in 1975, and oil production started on it in 1976. Over time, it was converted for gas production. However, on July 6, 1988, a gas leak occurred, which led to an explosion.

Due to indecisive and ill-considered actions of the personnel, 167 people out of 226 on the platform died.

Of course, after this event, oil and gas production on this platform was completely stopped. Insured losses totaled approximately US$3.4 billion. This is one of the most famous disasters in the world associated with the oil industry.

Death of the Aral Sea

This incident is the biggest environmental disaster on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake, after the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior in North America, and Lake Victoria in Africa. Now in its place is the Aralkum desert.

The reason for the disappearance of the Aral Sea is the creation of new irrigation canals for agricultural enterprises in Turkmenistan, which took water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. Because of this, the lake has retreated greatly from the shore, which has led to the exposure of the bottom covered with sea salt, pesticides and chemicals.

Due to 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 its original volume.

The result of this incident was serious changes in climate and landscape. In addition, of the 178 species of vertebrate animals that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 remain;

Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform that occurred on April 20, 2010 is considered one of the largest man-made disasters in terms of its negative impact on the environmental situation. 11 people died directly from the explosion and 17 were injured. Two more people died during the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.

Due to the fact that the explosion damaged pipes at a depth of 1,500 meters, approximately five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea over 152 days, creating a slick with an area of ​​75,000 kilometers; in addition, 1,770 kilometers of coastline were polluted.

The oil spill endangered 400 animal species and also led to a fishing ban.

Eruption of Mont Pele volcano

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 awakened back in April 1902, and within a month, hot vapors and gases, as well as lava, accumulated inside. A month later, a huge grayish cloud burst out at the foot of the volcano. The peculiarity of this eruption is that the lava did not come out 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 thirty thousand people.

Tropical Cyclone Nargis

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 northwest direction;
• On April 28, it stops moving, but the wind speed in the spiral vortices 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 in a northeast direction;
• On May 1, the wind direction 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 reached the coast of Myanmar's Ayeyarwaddy Province.

According to the UN, 1.5 million people were injured as a result of the violence, of whom 90 thousand died and 56 thousand were missing. In addition, the major city of Yangon was seriously damaged, and many settlements were completely destroyed. Part of the country was left without telephone communications, internet and electricity. The streets were littered with debris, debris from buildings and trees.

To eliminate the consequences of this disaster, the united forces of many countries of the world and international organizations such as the UN, EU, and UNESCO were needed.

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No one is immune from emergency situations; in every country, in every city, under water and on land, something incredible can happen that can even claim 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.
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Unfortunately, these things happen. There are probably no right words to describe them, and God forbid you find yourself in such situations.

We present to your attention the most terrible disasters in the world.

The worst plane crash

The rating of “The worst plane crashes” is headed by Tenerife. The fatal collision of 2 Boeing-747 aircraft belonging to different companies (Boeing-747-206B - the brainchild of KLM airline, operated the next flight KL4805 and Boeing-747 - property of Pan American, operated flight 1736), happened on 03/27/1977 on the island of the Canary group , Tenerife, on the runway of Los Rodeo airport. Many people died - 583 people on these two planes. What exactly caused such a devastating accident? The paradox is that the superposition of unfavorable circumstances on top of each other played a cruel joke.

On that ill-fated Sunday spring day, Los Rodeos airport was very congested. Both aircraft performed maneuvers on the narrow runway, including complex turns of 135-180 degrees. Interference in radio communications with the controller and between the pilots, poor weather conditions and visibility, misinterpretation of commands by the air traffic controller, the strong Spanish accent of the controller - all this inevitably led to trouble. The Boeing KLM commander did not understand the dispatcher's command to abort takeoff, while the commander of the second Boeing reported that their huge plane was still moving along the runway. Fourteen seconds later, the inevitable collision occurred, the fuselage of the Pan American Boeing was very damaged, gaps formed in some places, and some passengers escaped through them. A Boeing KLM without a tail and with damaged wings fell onto the runway 150 meters from the point of collision and drove along the runway for another 300 meters. Both affected aircraft burst into flames.

All 248 people on the Boeing KLM plane were killed. The second plane killed 326 passengers and nine crew members. The American star of Playboy magazine, actress and model Eve Meyer, also died in this worst plane crash.

The worst man-made disaster

The worst disaster in the history of oil production was the explosion on the Piper Alpha oil platform, built in 1976. This happened on 07/06/1988. According to experts, this terrible accident cost 3.4 billion US dollars and claimed the lives of 167 people. Piper Alpha is the only burned-out oil production platform on Earth, owned by the American oil company Occidental Petroleum. There was a huge gas leak and, as a result, a colossal explosion. This happened as a result of ill-considered actions of the maintenance personnel - pipelines from the platform fed the general oil pipeline network, the supply of petroleum products was not stopped immediately after the disaster, awaiting the command of higher authorities. Therefore, the fire continued due to the burning of gas and oil in the pipes; the fire even engulfed residential complexes. And those who were able to survive the first explosion found themselves surrounded by flames. Those who jumped into the water were saved.

The worst disaster on the water

If you remember the biggest disasters on the water, you immediately remember the pictures from the film “Titanic”, which is based on real events of 1912. But the sinking of the Titanic is not the biggest disaster. The greatest maritime disaster was the sinking of the German motor ship Wilhelm Gustlow by a Soviet military submarine on January 30, 1945. There were almost 9 thousand people on board the ship: 3,700 of them were people who had completed elite training as military submariners, 3-4 thousand representatives of the military elite who were evacuated from Danzig. The tourist excursion ship was built in 1938. It was, as it seemed, an unsinkable 9-deck ocean liner, designed using the latest technologies of that time.

Dance floors, 2 theaters, swimming pools, a church, a gym, restaurants, a cafe with a winter garden and climate control, comfortable cabins and personal apartments of Hitler himself. 208 meters long, it could travel halfway around the world without refueling. It couldn't sink a priori. But fate decreed otherwise. Under the command of A.I. Marinesko, the crew of the Soviet submarine S-13 conducted a military operation to destroy the enemy ship. Three fired torpedoes penetrated the Wilhelm Gustlow. It immediately sank in the Baltic Sea. Until now, no one, the whole world, can forget the most terrible disaster.

The biggest environmental disaster

The death of the Aral Sea, which before the drying out began, scientists called the fourth lake by world standards, is considered the most terrible disaster from an environmental point of view. Although the sea is located on the territory of the former USSR, the disaster affected the whole world. Water was taken from it in uncontrolled quantities to water fields and gardens to ensure the fulfillment of the political ambitions and unreasonable plans of Soviet leaders.
Over time, the shoreline moved so deep into the lake that many species of fish and animals died, more than 60,000 people lost their jobs, shipping stopped, the climate changed and droughts became more frequent.

The worst nuclear disaster

Huge numbers of people are exposed to nuclear disasters. So in April 1986, one of the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. Radioactive substances released into the atmosphere settled on nearby villages and towns. This accident is one of the most destructive of its kind. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the liquidation of the accident. Several hundred people were killed or injured. A thirty-kilometer exclusion zone has been formed around the nuclear power plant. The scale of the disaster is still unclear.

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