The Tenerife collision:
Canary Islands, Spain, 1977
583 dead
The Tenerife collision is the worst plane accident since plane was invented. March 27, 1977: two Boeing 747 airliners (Pan American World Airways Flight 1763 and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Flight 4805) collided at Los Rodeos on the island of Tenerife, killing 583 people. KLM 4805 was taking off on the airport’s only runway when it crashed into Pan Am 1736, taxiing on the same runway. A massive explosion happened, followed by a huge ball of fire. The sound was heard throughout the island.
1990 Hajj:
Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 1990
1426 dead
Another remarkable stampede is the 1990 Hajj tragedy in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The annual sacred Muslim Hajj is attended by millions of pilgrims. Sometimes, even when authorities think they have done everything to avoid stampedes and other disasters, things still go wrong and deadly. Stampedes in Mecca are not unusual. Hundreds of pilgrims are killed in a mad rush of the crowd especially during the Stoning of the Devil ceremony.
The MV Dona Paz Tragedy:
Tablas Strait, Philippines, 1987
4375 dead
On December 20, 1987, the Philippines were the center of the world’s attention once again. Tragedy struck when MV Doña Paz, an overcrowded passenger ferry, sank after crashing into the oil tanker Vector loaded with 8,800 barrels of petroleum. The ferry was on its way to Manila from Catbalogan, Samar. Within minutes, the ferry sank giving the victims no time to launch the lifeboats.
Initially, official reports claimed that 1,565 people were killed but others insisted that the death toll is more than 4,000. The licenced maximum capacity of the ferry is 1,518 but there were 1,568 people listed on the manifest. A huge fraction of the passengers were unmanifested.
The Chernobyl Accident:
Chernobyl, Soviet Union (now in modern Ukraine), 1986
Casualties: over 4000 and counting
The worst nuclear power plant accident in the world occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, then a part of the Soviet Union, on April 26, 1986. The place had four reactors; each could produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
On the eve of the accident, a team of engineers started an experiment on one of the reactors. Having little knowledge of reactor physics, the experiment went from a bit awry to downright deadly. Errors were made worse by more errors, which eventually resulted in a nuclear meltdown and in an explosion the next day. The blast blew off the reactor’s heavy steel lid.
Contrary to what was initially suggested, the explosion wasn’t nuclear but chemical, ensuing fire and releasing over 50 tons of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. In the early days of the crisis, 56 people died and dozens more suffered severely from radiation burns. But the casualties grew higher and higher as people were exposed to radiation.
Eventually, approximately 4,000 Soviet citizens lost their lives to cancer and other illnesses induced by radiation. The health of millions of people was also adversely affected.
Bhopal Gas Disaster:
Bhopal, India, 1984
Casualties: over 20,000
In the morning of December 3, 1984, the people of Bhopal in the state of Madhya Pradesh woke up to an abominable day. Others did not wake up at all. A holding tank of a Union Carbide chemical plant leaked out 40 tonnes of toxic gas (methyl isocyanate), rolled on the ground through several surrounding residential streets. The residents who breathed in the poisonous gas in their sleep died instantly. Others were able to run away.
About 500,000 people were exposed to the fatal gas. Of this number, 2,500 to 5,000 died immediately after the inhalation. To this date, approximately 20,000 are believed to have died from complications caused by the leak. It is said that on the average, one person dies from the effects every day.
Today, over 120,000 are still suffering from cancer, blindness, serious birth defects, breathing difficulties and other health complications caused by the accident. This certainly secures India a place on the map of tragic accidents because even up to this day, the Bhopal disaster is considered the world’s most tragic industrial accident in history.
Top 5 Accidental Tragedies in the World History Last 50 Years
