Original source : http://whatculture.com
Posted : September 2014
Author : Tom Butler
Tragic images of people in their final moments.
For a millennia, the last words spoken by people before
their death have been considered to be of high importance or significance, as
they represent the final mark they leave on the living world. Today, with the prevalence of technology and media, it’s not
wholly uncommon for a person’s final moments to be captured visually. Live
broadcasts, mobile phone pictures and even photos taken by the victims
themselves have all managed to capture people in the final seconds of life. A high number of these occurrences have taken place with
regards to celebrities or other famous figures, who are more likely to have a
camera on them at any given time. In certain bizarre cases, it was actually the
taking of the photo that caused the death in the first place, granting an even
greater sense of melancholy to the resulting image.
This list takes a look at 17 truly haunting photos that
chronicle the very final moments of people’s lives, whether they were aware of
that fact or not. Please note that some of these entries may contain disturbing
content, and may upset more sensitive readers.
17. Carl Williams
Carl Williams was an Australian convict, charged with drug
trafficking and murder, and a central figure in a series of gangland killings
in Melbourne.
Williams was serving a life in prison when this photo was taken. The person who sat down reading a newspaper is Williams himself,
unaware of fellow convict Matthew Charles Johnson approaching from behind.
Shortly after this CCTV footage still was taken, Williams was beaten to death
by Johnson using the stem of an exercise bike.
16. Jadiel El Tsunami
Ramon Gonzalez, who went by the stage name Jadiel el
Tsunami, was a Puerto Rican reggaeton singer. Particularly in South
America, Jadiel had a large fan base, with millions of listeners
worldwide. Early in 2014, Jadiel was involved in a motorbike crash with
another vehicle, resulting in his death at age 27. The above photo was taken by
Jadiel only moments before the accident killed him, although it’s unknown as to
whether this ‘selfie’ was a factor.
15. President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States
from 1961 until his infamous assassination in November 1963. Despite his
relatively short time as President, he has gone down in history for his involvement
in key parts of the Cold War, the Space Race and the African-American Civil
Rights Movement. While on a political trip to Texas, President John F. Kennedy was shot
once in the throat, once in the upper back and once in the head. The above
photo was taken only seconds before the shots were fired.
14. The Notorious B.I.G.
The most famous icon of East Coast hip hop, The Notorious
B.I.G. (real name Christopher Wallace) is widely considered to have been one of
the best MCs of all time. Unfortunately, his later career was marked by the
East Coast/West Coat hip hop feud, which many believe was a factor in his
untimely death. Wallace was in Los
Angeles to promote his second album, attending a
number of parties and media events while there. On March 9, 1997, Wallace was
shot four times by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting. The above photo
was taken within an hour of Wallace’s death, and the crime has yet to be solved
to this day.
13. Xenia
Ignatyeva
Teenager Xenia Ignatyeva was one of thousands of Russian
teens that have been part of a controversial new craze that’s been sweeping the
nation. Like a much more dangerous version of planking, the idea is that young
people will find spectacularly risky locations in order to take selfies, such
as the top of a radio tower or dangling from a pylon. Ignatyeva was just shy of 18 when she attempted a selfie
from the top of a rail bridge in Krasnogvardeysky. She wanted to take the photo
at night, with the railway line as a backdrop to the terrifying image.
Unfortunately, the fearless teen managed to lose her balance, electrocuting
herself on a high voltage cable and dropping to her death. The event has since
triggered an appeal for people to avoid being caught up in the deadly craze.
12. Unidentified 9/11 Jumper
The September 11 attacks will forever go down as a pivotal
moment in history, much in the same way 1963’s JFK assassination was. In many
ways, the event was distinct from terror attacks preceding it, due to growing
prevalence of media and portable technology that meant that every stage of the
tragedy was recorded in detail. This heartbreaking photo shows an unidentified jumper on his
descent from one of the upper floors of the tower. Many victims of the attack
chose to jump to certain death rather than face the incredible heat of the
flames from inside, a terrifying choice that is almost impossible to imagine.
11. Christopher McCandless
The story of Christopher McCandless will be familiar to
anyone that watched the 2007 film Into the Wild, which was a biographical
dramatisation of the events preceding his death. McCandless had grown tired of
modern life, and decided to spend some time alone in the Alaskan wilderness. McCandless chronicled his time in the wilderness using
photographs and diary entries, all the way until his death from a possible
mixture of accidental poisoning and starvation. This photo taken by McCandless
on a timer shows him holding a sign that read “I have had a happy life and
thank the lord. Goodbye and may god bless all!” McCandless died only a few days
afterwards.
10. Unidentified Nepali Man
This photo from September 11, 2013, shows an unidentified
Nepali man only inches from the ground after jumping from the top of a
three-story shophouse. Emergency services had tried to talk him out of jumping
for hours, but were unsuccessful in their attempts. It later emerged that he had recently lost his job,
according to what he had told a Fire and Rescue Department officer. The man was
killed almost instantly, only a split-second after this photo was taken.
9. Officer Steven Green
This still from video news coverage shows one of the last
ever images of police officer Steven Green, shortly before he was stabbed to
death by the suspect on the right. While cuffed, the suspect was able to
somehow stab Green in the sally port of the jail he was to be held in. Following the stabbing, the suspect was able to escape, but
was tracked down by police a short while later. A gunfight ensued as the
suspect hid beneath a home, and he was killed in an “exchange of gunfire”.
8. Pavel Kashin
Freerunning doesn’t just look impressive, it’s also
incredibly dangerous. There have been over 20 recorded fatalities in Russia alone,
and it’s quite a feat that there haven’t been more cases. One such freerunner
was Pavel Kashin, who would often perform jaw-dropping stunts with friends in
dangerously high places. Despite being somewhat well-known for his amazing talents in
freerunning, Kashin unfortunately made a fatal error during one session. The
remarkable photo above shows Pavel Kashin just moments after he lost his
balance after landing from a backflip off a wall. Kashin died following a
16-story drop.
7. Lady Diana With Passengers And Driver
The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, was a highly
controversial incident marked by an uncertainty as to the direct cause of the
crash, and accusations of a cover-up. An inquest that ended in 2008 found that
Diana and Dodi Fayed were the victims of gross negligence by chauffeur Henry
Paul, who was allegedly struggling with substance addiction at the time. The inquest also judged that the paparazzi drivers in the
vehicles ahead had contributed to the accident. This photo was taken by one of
the paparazzi photographers in front of the vehicle, only moments before the
fatal crash,.
6. Unidentified Chechen Villagers
This terrifying image from 2002 shows a group of Chechen
villagers looking up from a hole they dug themselves, shortly before it was
turned into a burial pit. This horrific occurrence took place following
troubles with Chechen rebels. It’s alleged that soldiers raided villages in the local
area, dragging them off to be tortured or killed and often attempting to ransom
them to the families. In the aftermath, various pits were discovered in fields,
filled with body parts that appeared to have been blown up with explosives.
5. Petra And Gary Slok
This photo wouldn’t be particularly eerie, were it not for
that fact that it was taken aboard the doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.
The plane was allegedly shot down by pro-Russian separatists on 17 July, 2014,
leading to an on-going international investigation. Everyone on-board Flight MH17 was killed in the attack, the
full details of which are still being uncovered and confirmed. Gary Slok and
his mother Petra Slok took this photo right before takeoff, making them among
the victims of the tragedy.
4. Jane Wicker
Talented wing walker Jane Wicker was one of the leading
industry stars before her death in 2013. She and her pilot Charlie Schwenker
were performing for thousands of people at the Vectren Dayton Air Show, before
the biplane crashed in a fiery explosion, killing both wing walker and rider. The manoeuvre leading to the crash involved the plane
ascending into a loop, so that Wicker was sitting on the wing of the upside
down plane. For unknown reasons, the wing upon which Wicker was sat banked
sharply to the ground, and the plane hit the ground shortly after.
3. Joseph Avery
In this remarkable photo from 1853, a man named Joseph Avery
can be seen desperately clinging to a log in the middle of the Niagara River.
Avery was part of a group of three men that were boating along the river, which
lost control in the strong current and smashed into a rock. Avery’s two companions were carried straight to their death
over the waterfall, but Avery was able to scramble onto a log that was caught
between two rocks. After holding on for eighteen hours, Avery managed to climb
onto a rescue boat that was guided downriver. Unfortunately, the boat capsized
almost immediately, tossing Avery straight into the river and over the falls.
2. R. Budd Dwyer
Robert Budd Dwyer was a Pennsylvanian politician, serving as
the 30th Treasurer of the State for six years before his death in 1987. Only
moments after the above photo was taken, Dwyer committed suicide by shooting
himself with a revolver at a news conference in Harrisburg. The incident became notorious for having been broadcast live
on television across Pennsylvania. Dwyer had been convicted of receiving a
bribe from a firm trying to gain a government contract. Throughout the court
case Dwyer maintained his innocence, and it later emerged after his death that
he had actually been framed for the whole thing.
1. Dutch Service Technicians
A group of four technicians were conducting routine
maintenance on one of several wind turbines at Ooltgensplaat in the
Netherlands. While in a gondola next to the turbine, a fire suddenly broke out,
quickly making the only escape completely inaccessible. Two of the technicians became stuck at the top of the
turbine, which soon became totally engulfed in flames. One victim chose to jump
down, and his body was found in an adjacent field shortly afterwards. The other
was found inside the charred husk of the turbine by a fire-fighter team that
went up the tube once the flames died down. The photo above shows the two
technicians embracing, only moments before one of them jumped down.
~Blog Admin~
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