Here's my third entry for my top five portion
let us make a recall of the
TOP FIVE WORLD'S WORST TRAGEDY OF ALL TIME
(BASED FROM YOSHIKE.COM'S TOP 10 MOST TRAGIC ACCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY)
TOP 5 WORLD'S WORST TRAGEDY OF ALL TIME
"THE 1990 HAJJ INCIDENT"
There have been many serious incidents during the Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage to the city of Mecca) that have caused the loss of hundreds of lives. There are an estimated 1.3 billion Muslims living today, each of whom is expected to visit Mecca during the Hajj at least once; during the month of the Hajj, Mecca must cope with as many as four million pilgrims
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. But the most tragic documented peace-time stampede in history occurred at the 1990 Hajj when more than 1400 pilgrims died in a pedestrian tunnel.
TOP 4 WORLD'S WORST TRAGEDY OF ALL TIME
"THE HALIFAX EXPLOTION"
The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows" section of the Halifax Harbour. About 2,000 people were killed by debris, fires, or collapsed buildings and it is estimated that over 9,000 people were injured. This is still the world's largest man-made accidental explosion.
This is considered the largest man-made, non-nuclear explosion even up to now. Approximately two square kilometers of the city was obliterated and wiped out. The neighbouring communities of Dartmouth and Richmond were also affected. The blast also caused a tsunami in the harbour. The tsunami caused a pressure wave of air snapping trees, demolishing buildings and grounded vessels and blowing fragments kilometres from the explosion site.
TOP 3 WORLD'S WORST TRAGEDY OF ALL TIME
"THE MV DONA PAZ TRAGEDY"
On December 20, 1987, the Philippines was 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. It is the most tragic documented peace-time maritime accident in history.
TOP 2 WORLD'S WORST TRAGEDY OF ALL TIME
"CHERNOBYL DISASTER"
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear reactor accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. It is considered to be the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history and the only level 7 instance on the International Nuclear Event Scale. It resulted in a severe release of radioactivity into the environment following a massive power excursion which destroyed the reactor. Two people died in the initial steam explosion, but most deaths from the accident were attributed to radiation.
The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry, slowing its expansion for a number of years, while forcing the Soviet government to become less secretive. The countries of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have been burdened with the continuing and substantial decontamination and health care costs of the Chernobyl accident. It is difficult to accurately quantify the number of deaths caused by the events at Chernobyl, as the Soviet-era cover-up made it difficult to track down victims. Lists were incomplete, and Soviet authorities later forbade doctors to cite "radiation" on death certificates.
The overall cost of the disaster is estimated at US$200 billion, taking inflation into account. This places the Chernobyl disaster as the most costly disaster in modern history
THE WORLD'S WORST TRAGEDY OF ALL TIME
"THE BHOPAL DISASTER"
The Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy was an industrial disaster that took place at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in the Indian city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. On 3 December 1984, the plant released 42 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, exposing more than 500,000 people to toxic gases. The first official immediate death toll was 2,259. A more generally accepted figure is that 8,000- 10,000 died within 72 hours, and it is estimated that 25,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.
The Bhopal disaster is frequently cited as the world's worst industrial disaster. The International Medical Commission on Bhopal was established in 1993 to respond to the longterm health effects of the disaster.
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.
