Posted : October 2012
Author : the admin
As a race, we appear to have an affinity when it comes to
killing each other and ourselves. In the past, there have been many accidental incidents
and disasters contributing towards much destruction and death - all of which
have been completely man-made. Here are ten of those for your perusal.
On August 31 2005, 953 people were killed in the Iraqi
capital as a result of a panicked stampede, following several rumours of an
imminent suicide attack. Most the of the dead were Islamic pilgrims on their
way to the shrine Imam Musa al-Kazim, one of the 12 Shi’a Imams. The vast
crowds were already unsteady following a mortar attack earlier in the day,
which an insurgent group linked to al-Qaeda later took responsibility for. When
claims of a suicide attack started circulating around the million strong group,
many panicked and tried to flee the area over the Al-Aimmah
Bridge across the river Tigris.
9. Great Fire of London
In the mid-1600’s London was
one of the largest cities on the planet, and certainly the largest in the UK. The element
which posed the greatest threat to such built-up areas of the time was of
course fire. With no real precautions in place, a fire which started in a
bakery on the city’s ‘pudding lane’ on September 2nd 1666 was able to rage on
for 3 whole days. Tearing its way through the central infrastructure of the
city, the fire claimed over 13,000 houses and 80 churched in this short amount
of time.
8. MV Dona Paz
The Philippine passenger ferry MV Dona Paz collided with an
oil tanker in the shark infested waters of the Tablas Strait
on December 20th 1987. The tanker with which the ferry collided soon caught
fire, quickly enveloping the Dona Paz too- it spread causing destruction
throughout both ships. As though this wasn’t bad enough, there were no
available life jackets on-board- causing the overcrowded vessel to go down with
most of its passengers still on board. This incident claimed the lives of over
4,000 people and is known as the worst peacetime maritime disaster ever.
7. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Known as one of the most environmentally detrimental human
accidents in history, this spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska
on the 24th of March 1989. The tanker, Exxon Valdez, was en-route to Long Beach, California
when it struck a reef in the sound- spilling an amount of oil argued to be
between 200,000 and 700,000 barrels worth. The effects upon the surrounding
areas was devastating, although claiming no human lives- the spill severely
affected local wildlife.
6. The Great Smog
In a truly sobering sequence of events, many of London’s population were
hit hard by the effects of nearby industry when a short period of freak weather
conditions combined with industrial pollutants to consume the city in a layer
of thick smog. In the weeks following, several thousand fatalities were reported
as a direct result of the smog playing havoc the respiratory systems of those
exposed to it. Following the incident, several pieces of legislation were
passed in an effort to better restrain the cities levels of harmful pollution.
5. Benxihu Colliery Explosion
Located in Benxi,
Liaoning- China-
this coal mine was seized by the Japanese during the Second World War. It was
during this dark time that a coal dust/gas explosion occurred killing around
1,500 workers. The incident is commonly noted as the biggest disaster of its
kind in the history of the coal mining industry. The initial destruction caused
by the explosion was intensified in terms of eventual casualties due to the
actions of the Japanese guards, they are said to have sealed the pit entrances in
an attempt starve the fire of oxygen whilst there were still workers
underground.
4. Halifax
Explosion
The natural harbour at Halifax, Nova Scotia became the site
of the largest accidental man-made explosion in human history when 2 ships
carrying arms and bound for the European front collided a short distance from
the shoreline. After burning for a short while one of the ships, the SS
Mont-Blanc exploded with such a force that its cloud of debris and smoke
travelled almost 2km into the air- also causing a tidal wave which engulfed the
other ship, Imo as well as causing havoc on the shoreline. Almost 2,000 people
lost their lives as a result of the accidental collision, many of them
civilians on the shoreline.
3. Tenerife
Airport Disaster
This is another example of accidental collision causing the
unnecessary death of many people. The tranquil holiday island
of Tenerife, in the Canary
Islands, was shaken to its core on March 27 1977 when 2 Boeing
747’s collided on its airports runway. The accident is attributed to the heavy
fog which lay over the island on the day, and also the failure of one pilot to
secure final take-off authorisation. The KLM aircraft, which was attempting to
take off, collided with a taxying Pan Am flight- resulting in both aircraft succumbing
to numerous explosions- 583 people lost their lives.
2. Chernobyl
In April of 1986 for the first time since the nuclear age
began some 40 or 50 years earlier, an unplanned nuclear scale explosion
occurred. It happened at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine, which at the time constituted part of
the USSR.
The explosion released around 400 times more nuclear fallout than the bomb
dropped on Hiroshima
in 1945, and the effect was huge. Nuclear rain fell all over Europe,
with many of those in the immediate few hundred miles of the plant suffering
most greatly. The amount killed by this disaster is something still intensely
debated, mostly due to the ambiguous nature of radiation poisoning; it is likely
to still be killing even now.
1. Bhopal
The most destructive of industrial accidents in recorded
history occurred in the city of Bhopal, India on the
evening of December 3rd 1984. A local pesticide plant suffered a lapse which
saw a large amount of water unknowingly entering a separate tank containing
methyl isocyanate. The chemical reaction caused by this mixture gradually began
heating tank- a misfortune which resulted in toxic gas polluting the cities
atmosphere. The air essentially became poisonous over a very short period-
leading to the deaths of 10,000 citizen in just 3 days. Many more died in the
weeks following as a result of the gas, at the hands of horrific diseases.
~Blog Admin~
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