No matter who is in power, the media is always on hand. IN last Sunday obliging media feeding from federal budget, hit another bottom. In dozens of cities across the country, including Moscow, thousands of people took to rallies against corruption - not a word on the news.

Now we have the Internet, from which you can’t hide anything, but in Soviet times It was like this: if the newspapers didn’t write, the people were neither in hearing nor in spirit. Therefore, it often happened that people learned about federal events many years later.

Mass crush at Luzhniki

Towards the end of the football match between Moscow Spartak and Dutch Haarlem in the UEFA Cup, which took place at the Central Lenin Stadium on October 20, 1982, the worst tragedy in the history of Soviet sports broke out. The Spartak team learned about this the next day from the coach, and everyone else only learned about it seven years later.

“Spartak” won 1:0, and a few minutes before the end of the game, chilled fans rushed to the exit. According to eyewitnesses, law enforcement officers opened only one of the four gates on stand C, where almost all the spectators were seated. At some point, a girl fell on the stairs, someone stopped to help her, and people were pressing behind her - a stampede began.

As luck would have it, at this time Sergei Shvetsov scored the second goal. Many moved back to the stands, and the situation took a completely terrible turn. As a result, 66 fans died in the stampede, most of them teenagers.

A monument to those killed on the territory of Luzhniki, erected to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.

The newspapers wrote about the match itself, but did not say a word about the tragedy. Only "Evening Moscow" on the last page reported in two lines about an "accident" as a result of which "people suffered." The media reported about the stampede already under Gorbachev. Relatives of the victims are convinced that there were many more victims than 66.

Escalator collapse in the Moscow metro

On February 17 of the same year, at the Aviamotornaya station, during rush hour, due to improper maintenance, the handrail of one of the escalators fell off, and the stairs, accelerating under the weight of passengers, rushed down. Neither the service brake nor the emergency brake operated properly.

Escalator at Aviamotornaya today. The tragedy happened on the escalator on the far right.

Many panicked and rushed up the steps, colliding with those who were trying to stay on their feet. People began to fall, and a blockage formed below. Someone tried to climb onto the adjacent escalator, but the plastic covering could not stand it and broke. Several people fell under the balustrade. The driving mechanisms were turned off manually only after two minutes.

Eight people died in the stampede and 30 were seriously injured. The very same “Evening Moscow” published a short message the next day. It looked like this:

Due to the fact that the tragedy was not covered in the media, it was overgrown with fictitious details and turned into a bloody meat grinder, although in fact it was not one.

Disaster at Baikonur

In October 1960, a ballistic R-16 exploded at the Baikonur Cosmodrome during preparation for a test launch. This happened due to the fact that a frankly unfinished rocket was launched onto the site. The Soviet leadership urged developers in connection with the aggravation cold war, plus, according to tradition, it was necessary to boast about the advanced pace of work for the anniversary October revolution.

The R-16 is placed on the launcher.

The explosion was terrifying. According to various estimates, from 70 to 120 people were burned alive, including the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin, who was sitting in a bunker a few meters from the base of the rocket.

Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin.

Movie cameras captured a terrible picture: waves of flame were spreading in circles from the rocket, people were jumping out of the fire and running in all directions, burning like torches. Some ran to the fence from barbed wire and hung lifelessly on her.

The moment of explosion.

Data about the tragedy were immediately classified. And in order to somehow explain the death of the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, they invented some kind of plane crash in which Nedelin allegedly died. He was buried with honors at the Kremlin wall, the rest of the victims were secretly buried in cemeteries in different cities and in mass grave at Baikonur. This case became public knowledge only after the breakup Soviet Union.

Ramming a residential building in Novosibirsk

In the early morning of September 26, 1976, a 23-year-old pilot civil aviation Vladimir Serkov hijacked an An-2 plane from a local airfield, circled over the city at low altitude and suddenly sent it straight towards a five-story residential building. As it turned out, the psychopath was aiming at the apartment on the third floor where his wife’s parents lived and where she left him, taking her two-year-old son. Fortunately, there was no one in the apartment.

The Kukuruznik crashed into a house at a speed of more than 150 kilometers per hour, punched a hole between the third and fourth floors in the stairwell area, and its front part with its propeller and motor flew into one of the apartments. Serkov died, but no one else was injured from the strike. A woman and three children died due to the fire.

Khrushchev was quickly restored, and the incident itself was classified. It was not officially reported anywhere; instead, ominous rumors spread around the city - either these were terrorists unprecedented in the USSR, or a terrible political action. In the end, this story would have turned into a tale, and the eyewitnesses would have been considered crazy, if not for the KGB archives declassified at the beginning of the 2000s.

Death of cosmonaut Bondarenko

24-year-old Valentin Bondarenko was one of the candidates for the first space flight in human history. In the squad Soviet cosmonauts who were being trained to fly on the Vostok ship, he was the youngest and, based on the results of training, was fourth on the list.

But three weeks before the historic start, Bondarenko died tragically during a test in a pressure chamber. This happened on the 10th day out of 15, which he had to spend completely alone in a tightly closed chamber with reduced pressure and high level oxygen.

Photos of other test participants.

After one of the medical tests, Bondarenko wiped the places where the biosensors were attached to his body with an alcohol swab and accidentally dropped it. The cotton wool fell on the hot spiral tile and burst into flames. The flame instantly spread throughout the oxygen-saturated room.

German Titov, Gagarin's understudy, during training in the soundproofing chamber.

Due to the large pressure difference, the door could only be opened after half an hour. With burns on 80% of his body, Valentin was taken to the hospital, where doctors fought for his life for eight hours. According to them, Gagarin was at his friend’s bedside all the time until he died.

The state kept everything related to space in the strictest confidence. Bondarenko’s death was not just hidden - he was erased from group photographs of the first detachment. The press acknowledged the death of the astronaut only in 1986. Until then, on Bondarenko’s grave in Kharkov it was written: “ In loving memory from fellow pilots." And only then was a postscript added: “...-cosmonauts of the USSR.”

You cannot live in the past, dream about the future, you need to appreciate the present, enjoy every day you live. The horrors that befell humanity in the twentieth century cannot be forgotten. You will find the most tragic events and shocking lessons of fate in our review.

Disasters on the water

The death of thousands of people on the waters is caused by various reasons: human factor, design errors, military actions, natural disasters. Let's look at the largest tragedies in terms of the number of victims that occurred on the water in the last century:

1. "Goya". On a warship confiscated by the Germans after their occupation of Norwegian territories during the Great Patriotic War Patriotic War, 7,000 people died. On April 16, 1945, a torpedo was fired at the powerful ship from a Russian submarine, causing the Goya to sink in the Baltic Sea.

2. "Wilhelm Gustloff." The German ship is named after the Nazi party leader. At the time of construction it was considered the largest ship in the world. Before the war it was used as a means of recreation. The ship sank on January 30, 1945. The reason is an attack by the Soviet military from a submarine. The exact composition of the passengers is unknown, but according to the official version, 5,348 people died. There were women and children on board.


3. "Mont Blanc". On December 6, 1917, a French warship exploded in a Canadian harbor and collided with the Imo (Norway). As a result of the fire, few managed to survive. Mortality is 2,000 people (1,950 people identified), and the cause is a banal human factor. Not counting the pre-nuclear era, this explosion was the most powerful in the history of mankind. You can watch a film about the terrible tragedy made in Canada in 2003 - “Destructive City”.


4. "Bismarck". The German battleship was sunk by British aircraft on June 12, 1944 during the war. The number of victims was 1,995 people.



The sinking of the Titanic

At the time of commissioning, the ship was considered the largest on earth. The giant ship sank on its first voyage on April 15, 1912, colliding with an iceberg.

Horror and death in the air

In the mid-twentieth century, air travel became widespread. The active development of passenger aviation has led to an excess of deaths in the sky compared to the “water” mortality rate. Here is a list of “bright” tragedies that claimed the lives of many innocent people:

1. Clash in Tenerife. The disaster occurred on March 27, 1977. Event location: Canary Islands (Tenerife). The fatal “meeting” of two airliners caused the death of 583 people. 61 people managed to escape the tragedy. For the period of the twentieth century, this plane crash is the largest in terms of the number of civil aviation events.


2. Disaster near Tokyo. On August 12, 1985, a Japanese airliner lost control 12 minutes after takeoff, losing its vertical stabilizer. For 32 minutes, the crew fought to save the plane in the air, but a collision with Mount Otsutaka influenced the devastating outcome of events. 520 people died, and only 4 survived. The disaster is called the largest in the history of “one plane.”


3. Charkhi Dadri (city in India). The plane crash occurred as a result of a collision between the flagship and Kazakh airliners at an altitude of 4,109 meters. All passengers were killed, including the crew of both planes (349 people in total).


4. Air crash near Paris. On March 3, 1974, a wide-body airliner built by a Turkish company killed 346 people. A few minutes after takeoff, the cargo bay door suddenly opened.


Explosive compression destroyed all control systems. The plane was picketing and crashed into a forest. The investigation indicated that the locking mechanism in the compartment was imperfect. Afterwards, many airlines made changes to aircraft designs to avoid catastrophic recurrences.


5. Terrorist attack near Cork. On its way to London, India's flagship carrier was the victim of a brutal terrorist attack. Just a few minutes before arrival, an explosion occurred on board the plane and everyone on board died (329 people). This is the largest terrorist attack in Canadian history.

Tragedies on earth

Some tragedies that happened in the last century on earth still cause concern and fear, continuing to destroy the health and lives of ordinary residents, namely:

1. Bhopal disaster. The man-made tragedy is the largest in history. An accident occurred at a chemical plant in India (1984). 18,000 people died. 3,000 of the dead were victims of instant death, while the rest died in the months and years following the tragedy. The cause of the terrible event could not be determined.


2. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. On April 26, 1986, a major deadly accident occurred, the explosion at Chernobyl nuclear power plant(Ukraine). The release of a huge amount of radioactive substances into the air caused the death of hundreds of people, not immediately, but gradually.


3. Piper Alpha. At the oil station in 1988, 167 people (staff members) died, 59 people were lucky, they managed to survive. This disaster is the largest in the oil industry.


In addition to man-made tragedies, many other shocking events occurred in the 20th century - warriors, the total number of millions of victims of which can no longer be counted: World War I (1914-1818), Civil War in Russia (1917-1923), World War II (1939-1945), Korean War (1950-1053).

Natural disasters

1. Cyclone Bhola. The disaster occurred in 1970. The tropical storm swept across several territories of Pakistan and Bengal, wiping out cities and small villages. Researchers were unable to find out the exact number of deceased citizens (approximately 5,000,000 people).


2. Valdivian earthquake (1960 - Chile). The resulting tsunami did not protect many innocent residents. The number of victims reached several thousand people. Beyond Death a natural phenomenon caused significant damage to the affected areas (cost estimate: $500 million).


3. Megatsunami in Alaska (1958). Earthquake, landslides, collapse of rocks and ice into the water, the world's highest tsunami. The disaster totals 5,000,000 casualties.


Tsunami in Alaska
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Nature often presents us with unpleasant surprises. And it happens that these “surprises” turn into monstrous consequences and the death of a large number of people. In this article we will look at the worst natural disasters in the world, including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and fires.

1556 CHINA EARTHQUAKE

On January 23, 1556, an earthquake occurred in the Shaanxi province of China, which caused the death of eight hundred and thirty thousand people. According to experts, the power of this earthquake corresponds to eight points; in terms of the number of deaths, this incident is one of the three most terrible natural disasters in the world in the entire written history of mankind.

All residential buildings were destroyed and several architectural monuments were destroyed. The destruction affected the area within a radius of five hundred kilometers from the epicenter.

This a large number of deaths from this disaster are explained by the following reasons:

  • The territory of China has been quite densely populated throughout its history;
  • At that time, most citizens lived in fairly simple houses, which did not have high strength, much less resistance to seismic shocks. In addition, they stood on loose soil and quickly sank into the ground;
  • The earthquake occurred at five in the morning, when most people were in their homes. In addition, this time made it somewhat difficult to detect signs of an earthquake in a timely manner.

LANDSCAPE IN THE PAMIR MOUNTAINS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF USOY

The landslide that occurred in 1911 near the village of Usoy is considered the most powerful in the entire twentieth century. Unfortunately, since this disaster occurred in a remote corner of Russia, this disaster became known only two months later.

The landslide area was only surveyed in 1913, and because of this, some features of this disaster remained unknown. Moreover, it still remains unknown exact date of this incident.

However, it is thoroughly known that the cause of the landslide was an earthquake.

The Pamir landslide, consisting of rocks and clay, completely covered the village of Usoy, which killed all its inhabitants, namely 54 people. In addition, rocks that descended from the mountains completely filled up the valley and blocked the Mugrab River, resulting in the formation of a new large lake.

Collateral damage caused by the landslide was the gradual rise of water in the newly formed lake, which caused the flooding of the nearby village of Sarez. After some time, the water was able to break through a new channel in the landslide mass, which equalized the outflow and inflow, which made it possible to create a constant water level.

Based on the results of this incident, the Pamir landslide undoubtedly ranks among the largest natural disasters in the world.

FLOODS IN CHINA IN 1931

In 1931, a series of floods occurred in south-central China, which are among the world's most famous natural disasters. These incidents caused the deaths of between 145 thousand and four million people.

Between 1928 and 1930 there was a very severe drought in China, and the subsequent winter of 1930-31 was very snowy. Melting snow and large amounts of spring rain caused rivers to overflow. Showers continued into the summer and reached their peak intensity in August.

Because of this, the most large rivers China - Yangtze, Yellow River, Huaihe. The water flooded and almost completely destroyed the city of Nanjing, which at that time was the capital of China.

On August 19, the water level exceeded the norm by sixteen meters, and on the evening of August 25, the Grand Canal was flooded, the dams were washed away, which caused the death of two hundred thousand people in one night.

The inability to quickly bury the dead caused an epidemic of typhus and cholera, and due to the lack of food, cases of cannibalism and infanticide began.

FLOOD IN ST. PETERSBURG 1824

The most destructive flood in the entire history of St. Petersburg occurred on November 7, 1824. And although for the city on the Neva floods are not something unusual phenomenon, this event undoubtedly ranks among the worst natural disasters in Russia.

On November 7, 1824, heavy rain poured in St. Petersburg, which was complemented by a cold and damp wind. In the evening, the bad weather began to intensify, and a rapid rise of water began in the canals, which quickly attracted the attention of citizens, as the water rose by more than four meters. The total damage from this disaster at that time was estimated at 15-20 million rubles.

  • 462 houses were destroyed and 3,681 damaged;
  • More than 3,600 head of livestock died;
  • Between 200 and 600 people drowned and many went missing.

1755 LISBON EARTHQUAKE

One of the most terrible and grandiose disasters in the world, without a doubt, is the Great Lisbon Earthquake, which occurred on November 1, 1755 at 9:20 am. And this is not surprising because because of this incident, the capital of Portugal, Lisbon, was completely destroyed.

In just six minutes, about eighty thousand people died. It is also impossible not to say that seismic tremors caused tsunamis and fires. According to experts, the power of this earthquake corresponds to 8.7 points. Its epicenter was in the Atlantic Ocean, 200 kilometers from Cape San Vincente.

Lisbon was not the only city to suffer due to the disaster. The tremors were felt in all southern regions of the country, and reached Finland and North Africa. The tsunamis caused by the earthquake hit the islands of Barbados and Martinique and the coast of North Africa.

It should be noted that this earthquake was a powerful impetus for the emergence of modern seismology.

HURRICANE SAN CALISTCO 1780

Hurricane San Calistico is one of the deadliest weather disasters on record in the North Atlantic basin. The hurricane raged from October 10 to October 16, 1780. More than twenty-seven and a half thousand people became its victims. Unfortunately, exact data on its strength and trajectory are unknown, since the database began to be maintained in 1851.

It originated near the Cape Verde Islands, and began to grow and intensify as it moved west. The hurricane first hit Barbados, at which point the wind speed exceeded 320 kilometers per hour. After this, the disaster struck Martinique, Saint Eustatius and Saint Lucia. With each new city through which the hurricane passed, the number of victims increased by thousands. Besides settlements the disaster damaged the fleets of Great Britain and France.

The total death toll from Hurricane San Calistico is the highest on record for such a weather event, making it one of the most famous natural disasters in the world.

HURRICANE MITCH

Hurricane Mitch is considered the second most powerful weather event on record in the Atlantic Basin. It was formed on October 22, 1998, in the western Caribbean Sea.

Nicaragua and Honduras suffered the most from the violence of the elements. The hurricane caused the death of eleven thousand people, while approximately the same number are considered missing. In addition, this disaster made two million seven hundred thousand people homeless.

In addition to the direct damage caused by the hurricane, up to eighty percent of Honduras' infrastructure was destroyed. Roads and bridges were destroyed, airports were destroyed, which significantly hampered the supply of food, water and medicine, which led to severe famine and the spread of diseases such as cholera, dengue and malaria. The total property damage from the hurricane in Honduras exceeds one billion dollars.

Nicaragua became the second state in terms of the amount of damage caused. Heavy rains that accompanied Hurricane Mitch caused Lake Casita to overflow and flood nearby villages with mud. Just like in Honduras, the violence of the elements caused famine and the emergence of various diseases.

Countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala were less affected, with several hundred people killed and most of their sugar cane, coffee and grain crops destroyed.

One of the main reasons for such high destruction is that this hurricane was not detected immediately, even despite the technical resources available.

HURRICANE KATRINA

This hurricane is rightfully considered the most powerful in US history. According to scientists, it is the sixth most powerful among the known hurricanes of the Atlantic basin, and belongs to the fifth category on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and is undoubtedly one of the most famous natural disasters in the world.

Hurricane Katrina began forming on August 23, 2005, near the Bahamas. It should be noted that as it moved towards the coast, the hurricane weakened somewhat, and its wind speed reached 280 km/h.

The heaviest damage was caused to cities such as New Orleans and Louisiana, where approximately 80% of the city was under water. One thousand eight hundred thirty-six people died, and the total economic loss was $125 billion, according to a 2007 estimate.

It should be noted that the majority of those affected by this disaster were city residents who lived below the poverty line and did not have money to pay for travel and hotels. Wherein public services, although they declared the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama as disaster areas, they were in no hurry to help evacuate those who could not do it themselves.

In New Orleans, by the time Hurricane Katrina approached, there were one hundred and fifty thousand people left who lived in poor areas. The city authorities offered them the Superdome stadium as a refuge, in which thirty thousand people could take refuge.

ERUPTION OF KRAKATAU VOLCANO

Krakatoa was an active Indonesian volcano located on Malay Archipelago between Java and Sumatra. Until 1883 it was a large island.

In May 1883, a powerful eruption began, which is one of the most terrible natural disasters. Explosions and ejections of rock continued until the end of August, and led to the devastation of the “underground chamber” under the volcano. The last powerful explosion occurred on August 27, with the ash column reaching a height of 30 km. Its force was equivalent to two hundred megatons of TNT, which is ten thousand times more powerful than the bomb that hit Hiroshima. According to various sources, the shock wave circled the earth from seven to eleven times.

The island was almost completely destroyed, and the tsunamis that rose were up to thirty meters high, and their impact led to the destruction of 295 cities and villages, and the death of thirty-six thousand people.

In addition, volcanic ash rose up to eighty kilometers into the atmosphere and remained there for several years. Fortunately, the most noticeable consequences of such a release for most people was the intense coloring of the dawns.

HURRICANE IRMA, 2017

The ranking of the largest natural disasters would not be complete without a powerful tropical hurricane Irma. It hit the Antilles and Virgin Islands, bringing with it destruction to Cuba, Florida, and the Bahamas. Economic damage from Hurricane Irma is estimated at $65 billion, and the death toll is 134 people.

Hurricane Irma destroyed buildings and infrastructure, thousands of people were left homeless, and transport links were disrupted. In the state of Florida (USA) alone, almost a quarter of the population, over 6 million people, was evacuated.

Hurricane Irma was not the only devastating natural disaster in 2017: southeast Texas (USA) and the Atlantic coast South America Hurricanes Harvey and Maria hit. Economic damage from Hurricane Harvey is estimated at $70 billion, and the death toll is 83 people.

In general, 2017 is considered the most destructive year in terms of the scale of natural disasters; after the Atlantic hurricanes, large forest fires occurred in California (USA), as well as a series of hurricanes in European countries.

War takes tens of thousands of human lives, but even the bloodiest one cannot compare with the elements: the planet does not spare us - and does not even pay attention to the number of victims suffered from cyclones, floods and other terrible misfortunes. What's worse - a tornado or a fire? What are the chances of surviving a volcanic eruption? What about during an avalanche? Unfortunately, the answer in both cases is minimal. We have collected 10 of the most terrible natural disasters in the entire history of mankind: apparently, nature is beginning, gradually, to punish us for the careless destruction of the planet.

Eruption of Mont Pele 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 main port Martinique, Saint-Pierre. In just a few minutes, as many as 36,000 people died.

Flood in China

1931 The beginning of 1931 became a terrible test for the entire people of China. A series of terrible floods, which modern historians call the worst natural disaster in human history, claimed almost 4 million lives.

Fire in Curonian-2

1936 The summer of 1936 turned out to be very hot. The fire that started near the village was fanned by the wind. The fire moved towards the people. At night, a train approached the village, and work began to save the logging site. 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 loaded with logs took over from him. People were burning alive. About 1,200 people died in one night.

Avalanche of Huascaran

1970 An earthquake off the coast of Peru destabilizes the northern slope of the majestic double-humped Mount Huascaran. An avalanche of ice and rock rushed down at a speed of 180 miles per hour. The town of Jungau, located on the spur of Huascaran, has already welcomed 80 million cubic meters mud, ice and snow. Of the 25,000 residents of the village, none survived.

Cyclone Bhola

1970 This tropical cyclone is recognized as one of the most destructive natural Disasters modern world. The storm surge that hit the islands of the Ganges Delta killed 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: rural areas Iran were completely covered with a three-meter layer of snow. Some villages were literally buried under avalanches. Subsequently, authorities counted as many as 4,000 people dead.

Tanshan earthquake

1976 Eta natural disaster occurred in the Chinese city of Tangshan. At about four o'clock in the morning, at a depth of 22 kilometers, a powerful earthquake occurred. The city was destroyed to the ground, none of the 655,000 people survived.

Tornado in Daulatpur

1989 Observers noticed a deadly tornado, the radius of which exceeded 1.5 kilometers, on the morning of April 26. A little later, this giant fell on Bangladesh. The tornado was powerful enough to easily lift entire houses into the air. People were literally torn apart: in just one day, about one and a half thousand people died, another 12 thousand ended up in the hospital.

European heat

2003 The summer heat wave of 2003 killed 70,000 people. According to the authorities, the local health care system was simply not designed for such incredible loads. It is noteworthy that weather forecasters claim a repetition of such a heat attack approximately every thirteen years.

Indian Ocean Tsunami

2004 An underwater earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004 caused a tsunami of incredible force. The earthquake itself was recognized as the third highest in history in general. A tsunami with waves exceeding 15 meters in height hit the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand and killed more than 250,000 people.

Every year, dozens of terrible man-made disasters occur in the world that cause significant harm to the global environment. Today I invite you to read about several of them in the continuation of the post.

Petrobrice is a Brazilian state-owned oil company. The company's headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro. In July 2000, a disaster at an oil refinery in Brazil spilled more than a million gallons of oil (about 3,180 tons) into the Iguazu River. For comparison, 50 tons of crude oil recently spilled near a resort island in Thailand.
The resulting stain moved downstream, threatening to poison drinking water for several cities at once. The liquidators of the accident built several barriers, but they managed to stop the oil only at the fifth one. One part of the oil was collected from the surface of the water, the other went through specially built diversion channels.
The Petrobrice company paid a fine of $56 million to the state budget and $30 million to the state budget.

On September 21, 2001, an explosion occurred at the AZF chemical plant in Toulouse, France, the consequences of which are considered one of the largest man-made disasters. 300 tons of ammonium nitrate (salt) exploded nitric acid), which were located in the finished goods warehouse. According to the official version, the management of the plant is to blame for not ensuring the safe storage of an explosive substance.
The consequences of the disaster were gigantic: 30 people were killed, the total number of injured was more than 3,000, thousands of residential buildings and buildings were destroyed or damaged, including almost 80 schools, 2 universities, 185 kindergartens, 40,000 people were left homeless, more than 130 enterprises have actually ceased their activities. The total amount of damage is 3 billion euros.

On November 13, 2002, off the coast of Spain, the oil tanker Prestige was caught in a strong storm, with more than 77,000 tons of fuel oil in its holds. As a result of the storm, a crack about 50 meters long appeared in the ship's hull. On November 19, the tanker broke in half and sank. As a result of the disaster, 63,000 tons of fuel oil ended up in the sea.

Cleaning the sea and shores of fuel oil cost $12 billion; the full damage caused to the ecosystem is impossible to estimate.



On August 26, 2004, a fuel tanker carrying 32,000 liters of fuel fell from the 100-meter-high Wiehltal bridge near Cologne in western Germany. After the fall, the fuel tanker exploded. The culprit of the accident was a sports car that skidded on a slippery road, which caused the fuel tanker to skid.
This accident is considered one of the most expensive man-made disasters in history - temporary repairs to the bridge cost $40 million, and complete reconstruction cost $318 million.

On March 19, 2007, due to a methane explosion at the Ulyanovskaya mine in Kemerovo region 110 people died. The first explosion was followed by four more explosions within 5-7 seconds, which caused extensive collapses in the workings in several places at once. The chief engineer and almost the entire management of the mine were killed. This accident is the largest in Russian coal mining over the past 75 years.

On August 17, 2009, a man-made disaster occurred at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, located on the Yenisei River. This happened during the repair of one of the hydraulic units of the hydroelectric power station. As a result of the accident, the 3rd and 4th water pipelines were destroyed, the wall was destroyed and the turbine room was flooded. 9 out of 10 hydraulic turbines were completely out of order, the hydroelectric power station was stopped.
Due to the accident, the power supply to Siberian regions was disrupted, including limited electricity supply in Tomsk; outages affected several Siberian aluminum smelters. As a result of the disaster, 75 people were killed and another 13 were injured.

The damage from the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station exceeded 7.3 billion rubles, including environmental damage. Recently, a trial began in Khakassia in the case of a man-made disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in 2009.

On October 4, 2010, a major ecological catastrophy. On large plant In aluminum production, an explosion destroyed the dam of a reservoir containing toxic waste - the so-called red mud. About 1.1 million cubic meters of the corrosive substance were flooded by a 3-meter flow in the cities of Kolontar and Dečever, 160 kilometers west of Budapest.

Red mud is a sediment that is formed during the production of aluminum oxide. When it comes into contact with the skin, it acts like an alkali. As a result of the disaster, 10 people died, about 150 received various injuries and burns.



April 22, 2010 at Gulf of Mexico Off the coast of the US state of Louisiana, the Deepwater Horizon manned drilling platform sank after an explosion that killed 11 people and a 36-hour fire.

The oil leak was stopped only on August 4, 2010. About 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. The platform on which the accident occurred belonged to a Swiss company, and at the time of the man-made disaster the platform was managed by British Petroleum.

On March 11, 2011, in the northeast of Japan, at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, after a strong earthquake, the largest earthquake in the last 25 years occurred after the disaster. Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Following tremors with a magnitude of 9.0, a huge tsunami wave came to the coast, which damaged 4 of the 6 reactors of the nuclear power plant and disabled the cooling system, which led to a series of hydrogen explosions and melting of the core.

The total volume of emissions of iodine-131 and cesium-137 after the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant amounted to 900,000 terabecrels, which does not exceed 20% of emissions after Chernobyl accident in 1986, which then amounted to 5.2 million terabecquerels.
Experts estimated the total damage from the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant at $74 billion. Complete elimination of the accident, including dismantling the reactors, will take about 40 years.

NPP "Fukushima-1"

On July 11, 2011, an explosion occurred at a naval base near Limassol in Cyprus, killing 13 and bringing the island nation to the brink. economic crisis, destroying the island's largest power plant.
Investigators accused the President of the Republic, Dimitris Christofias, of neglecting the problem of storing ammunition confiscated in 2009 from the Monchegorsk ship on suspicion of arms smuggling to Iran. In fact, the ammunition was stored directly on the ground on the territory of the naval base and detonated due to the high temperature.

Destroyed Mari power plant in Cyprus

On February 28, 2012, an explosion occurred at a chemical plant in the Chinese province of Hebei, killing 25 people. An explosion occurred in a workshop for the production of nitroguanidine (it is used as rocket fuel) at the Hebei Care chemical plant in the city of Shijiazhuang

On April 18, 2013, a powerful explosion occurred at a fertilizer plant in the American city of West, Texas.
Almost 100 buildings in the area were destroyed, from 5 to 15 people were killed, about 160 people were injured, and the town itself began to look like a war zone or the set of the next Terminator movie.