The largest number of dead people. The worst disasters in history. The worst disaster on the water

It is terrible to realize how much evil man has done to himself and the planet on which he lives. Most of the damage has been done by large industrial corporations that don't think about the level of danger of their activities in order to make a profit. And it is especially scary that the catastrophes also occurred as a result of tests of various types of weapons, including nuclear ones. We offer 15 of the biggest disasters in the world caused by man.

15. Castle Bravo (March 1, 1954)

The United States conducted a nuclear test in March 1954 at Bikini Atoll, off the Marshall Islands. It was a thousand times more powerful than the explosion on Hiroshima, Japan. This was part of an experiment by the US government. The damage caused by the explosion was catastrophic for the environment over an area of ​​11265.41 km2. 655 representatives of the fauna were destroyed.

14. Disaster in Seveso (July 10, 1976)

An industrial disaster near Milan, Italy resulted from the release of toxic chemicals into the environment. During the production cycle, when receiving trichlorophenol, a dangerous cloud of harmful compounds entered the atmosphere. The release instantly had a detrimental effect on the flora and fauna of the territory adjacent to the plant. The company concealed the fact of leakage of chemicals for 10 days. Cases of cancer have increased, as was later proven by studies of dead animals. Residents of the small town of Seveso began to experience frequent cases of heart pathologies and respiratory diseases.

The meltdown of part of a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, USA, released an unknown amount of radioactive gases and iodine into the environment. The accident was due to a series of human errors and mechanical failures. There was much debate about the scale of pollution, but the authorities withheld specific figures so as not to raise a panic. They argued that the release was insignificant and could not harm the flora and fauna. However, in 1997, the data was re-examined, and it was concluded that those who lived near the reactor had 10 times more manifestations of cancer and leukemia than others.

12. Oil spill from the tanker Exxon Valdes (March 24, 1989)

An accident on an Exxon Valdez tanker released a huge amount of oil into the ocean off Alaska, polluting 2,092.15 km of coastline. As a result, irreparable damage to the ecosystem was caused. And to date, it has not been restored. In 2010, the US government stated that 32 species of wildlife had been harmed and that only 13 species had been restored. Could not restore the subspecies of killer whales and Pacific herring.

The explosion and flooding of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico at the Macondo field led to the fact that there was a leak of oil and gas in the amount of 4.9 million barrels. According to scientists, this accident was the largest in US history and claimed 11 lives of platform workers. The inhabitants of the ocean were also harmed. Until now, violations of the ecosystem of the bay are noted.

10 Love Canal Disaster (1978)

In Niagara Falls, New York, about a hundred houses and a local school were built on the site of an industrial and chemical waste dump. Over time, the chemicals seeped into the upper layers of the soil and water. People began to notice that some black swampy spots appeared near the houses. When they did the analysis, they found the content of eighty-two chemical compounds, eleven of which were carcinogenic substances. Among the diseases of the inhabitants of the Love Canal, such serious diseases as leukemia began to appear, and 98 families had children with serious pathologies.

9. Chemical pollution in Anniston, Alabama (1929-1971)

In Anniston, in the area where the agricultural and biotech giant Monsanto first produced cancer-causing substances, they were inexplicably released into Snow Creek. The population of Anniston suffered greatly. As a result of exposure, the percentage of diabetes and other pathologies has increased. Monsanto paid $700 million in damages and rescues in 2002.

During the military conflict in the Persian Gulf in Kuwait, Saddam Hussein set fire to 600 oil wells to create a poisonous smoke screen for as much as 10 months. It is believed that between 600 and 800 tons of oil burned daily. About five percent of the territory of Kuwait was covered with soot, livestock died from lung diseases, and the number of cancer cases increased in the country.

7. Zilin chemical plant explosion (November 13, 2005)

There were several powerful explosions at the Zilin Chemical Plant. A huge amount of benzene and nitrobenzene, which has a detrimental toxic effect, was released into the environment. The disaster resulted in the death of six people and the injury of seventy.

6 Pollution Times Beach, Missouri (December 1982)

The spraying of oil containing toxic dioxin led to the complete destruction of a small town in Missouri. The method was used as an alternative to irrigation to keep dust off the roads. The situation worsened when, as a result of flooding the city with the waters of the Meremek River, toxic oil spread along the entire coast. Residents were exposed to dioxin and reported immune and muscle problems.

For five days, smoke from coal burning and factory emissions covered London in a dense layer. The fact is that cold weather has come and the residents massively began to heat the stoves with coal to warm the houses. A combination of industrial and public air emissions resulted in thick fog and poor visibility, and 12,000 people died from inhaling toxic fumes.

4 The Poisoning Of Minamata Bay, Japan (1950s)

In 37 years of plastics production, the petrochemical company Chisso Corporation has dumped 27 tons of the metal mercury into the waters of Minamata Bay. Because the inhabitants used it to fish, unaware of the chemical spills, the mercury-poisoned fish caused serious health damage to babies born to mothers who ate fish from the Minamata, and killed more than 900 people in the region.

3. Bhopal Disaster (December 2, 1984)

The whole world knows about radiation contamination as a result of a nuclear reactor accident and a fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. It has been called the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. About a million people died due to the effects of the nuclear holocaust, mainly from cancer and exposure to high levels of radiation.

After the 9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was left without power and lost the ability to cool nuclear reactors. This led to radioactive contamination of a large territory and water area. About two hundred thousand residents were evacuated due to fear of serious illnesses as a result of exposure. The disaster once again made scientists think about the dangers of atomic energy and the need to develop

For centuries, natural disasters have not let go of humanity. Some happened so long ago that scientists cannot estimate the extent of the destruction. For example, it is believed that the Mediterranean island of Stroggli was razed to the ground by a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC. The resulting tsunami wiped out the entire Minoan civilization, but no one knows even the approximate number of deaths. However, the 10 most devastating disasters known, mostly earthquakes and floods, killed approximately 10 million people.

10. Aleppo earthquake - 1138, Syria (Victims: 230,000)

One of the most powerful earthquakes known to mankind, and the fourth in terms of the number of victims (according to a rough estimate, over 230 thousand dead). The city of Aleppo, a large and populous urban center since antiquity, is geologically located along the northern part of a system of large geological faults, which also includes the Dead Sea depression, and which separate the Arabian and African tectonic plates, which are in constant interaction. The Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi recorded the date of the earthquake - Wednesday, October 11, 1138, and also indicated the number of victims - over 230 thousand people. Such a number of victims and destruction shocked contemporaries, especially the western crusader knights, because then in northwestern Europe, where most of them were from, a rare city had a population of 10 thousand inhabitants. After the earthquake, the population of Aleppo recovered only by the beginning of the 19th century, when a population of 200 thousand inhabitants was again recorded in the city.

9. Indian Ocean Earthquake - 2004, Indian Ocean (Victims: 230,000+)

The third, and according to some estimates, the second largest, is the underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean, which took place on December 26, 2004. It caused a tsunami, which caused most of the damage. Scientists estimate the magnitude of the earthquake from 9.1 to 9.3 points. The epicenter was under water, north of Simeulue Island, northwest of Indonesian Sumatra. Huge waves reached the shores of Thailand, southern India and Indonesia. Then the height of the waves reached 15 meters. Many territories were subjected to huge destruction and casualties, including in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, which is 6900 km from the epicenter. The exact number of victims is unknown, but it is estimated from 225 to 300 thousand people. It will not be possible to calculate the true figure, since many bodies were simply carried away by water into the sea. It is curious, but a few hours before the arrival of the tsunami, many animals sensitively reacted to the impending disaster - they left the coastal zones, moving to higher ground.

8. Destruction of the Banqiao Dam - 1975, China (Victims: 231,000)

There are different estimates of the number of victims of the disaster. The official figure, about 26,000, takes into account only those directly drowned in the flood itself; taking into account the deaths from epidemics and famine that spread as a result of the disaster, the total number of victims is, according to various estimates, 171,000 or even 230,000. The dam was designed in such a way as to survive the largest floods that occur once every thousand years (306 mm of precipitation per day). However, in August 1975, the largest flood in 2000 years occurred as a result of the powerful typhoon Nina and several days of record storms. The flood caused a huge wave of water 10 kilometers wide, 3-7 meters high. The tide in an hour went 50 kilometers from the coast and reached the plains, created artificial lakes there with a total area of ​​12,000 square kilometers. Seven provinces were flooded, including thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communications.

7. Tangshan earthquake - 1976, China (Victims: 242,000)

The second strongest earthquake also occurred in China. On July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake took place in Hebei Province. Its magnitude was 8.2, which makes it the largest natural disaster of the century. The official death toll was 242,419. However, most likely the figure was underestimated by the PRC authorities by 3-4 times. This suspicion is based on the fact that according to Chinese documents, the magnitude of the earthquake is only 7.8. Tangshan was almost immediately destroyed by powerful aftershocks, the epicenter of which was at a depth of 22 km under the city. Even Tianjin and Beijing, which are located 140 kilometers from the epicenter, were destroyed. The consequences of the disaster were terrible - 5.3 million houses were destroyed and damaged to such an extent that it was impossible to live in them. The number of victims increased due to the subsequent series of aftershocks to 7.1 points. Today in the center of Tangshan there is a stele that reminds of the terrible catastrophe, there is also an information center dedicated to those events. It is a kind of museum on this subject, the only one in China.

6 Kaifeng Flood - 1642, China (Victims: 300,000)

Long-suffering China again. Formally, this disaster can be considered natural, but it was arranged by human hands. In 1642, a peasant uprising took place in China, led by Li Zicheng. The rebels approached the city of Kaifeng. In order to prevent the rebels from capturing the city, the command of the Ming Dynasty troops gave the order to flood the city and its surroundings with the waters of the Yellow River. When the water receded and the famine caused by artificial flooding ended, it turned out that out of 600,000 people in the city and its environs, only half survived. At that time, it was one of the bloodiest punitive actions in history.

5. Cyclone in India - 1839, India (Victims: 300,000+)

Although the photo of the cyclone does not belong to 1839, it can be used to appreciate the full power of this natural phenomenon. The Indian cyclone of 1839 was not destructive in itself, but it produced powerful tidal waves that killed 300,000 people. Tidal waves completely destroyed the city of Coringa and sank 20,000 ships that were in the bay of the city.

4. Great Chinese earthquake - 1556 (Victims: 830,000)

In 1556, the most destructive earthquake in the history of mankind, called the Great China Earthquake, took place. It happened on January 23, 1556 in Shaanxi province. Historians believe that the natural disaster claimed the lives of about 830 thousand people, more than any other similar event. Some areas of Shaanxi were completely depopulated, while in the rest more than half of the people died. Such a huge number of victims was explained by the fact that most of the inhabitants lived in loess caves, which immediately collapsed during the first shocks or were subsequently flooded by mudflows. According to modern estimates, this earthquake was assigned a category of 11 points. One of the eyewitnesses warned his descendants that with the onset of a disaster, one should not rush headlong into the street: "When a bird's nest falls from a tree, the eggs often remain unharmed." Such words are evidence that many people died while trying to leave their homes. The destructiveness of the earthquake is evidenced by the ancient steles of Xi'an, collected in the local Beilin Museum. Many of them crumbled or cracked. During the cataclysm, the Wild Goose Pagoda located here survived, but its foundation sank by 1.6 meters.

3. Cyclone Bhola - 1970 (Victims: 500,000 - 1,000,000)

A devastating tropical cyclone that hit East Pakistan and Indian West Bengal on November 12, 1970. The deadliest tropical cyclone and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. About half a million people lost their lives as a result of the impact of the storm tide, which flooded many low-lying islands in the Ganges delta. It was the sixth storm cyclone in the 1970 northern Indian Ocean hurricane season and the strongest of the year.
The cyclone formed over the central part of the Bay of Bengal on November 8, after which it began to move north, gaining strength. It reached its peak power on the evening of 12 November and made contact with the coastline of East Pakistan that same night. The storm surge devastated numerous offshore islands, sweeping away entire villages and destroying the region's farmlands in its wake. In the most affected area of ​​the country - upazila Tazumuddin - more than 45% of the 167,000 population died.
Political implications
The clumsy pace of the rescue effort only added to the anger and resentment in East Pakistan and fueled the local resistance movement. Subsidies were slow to arrive, transports slowly delivering much-needed funds to storm-ravaged areas. In March 1971, the tension was constantly growing, foreign specialists began to leave the province, fearing bursts of violence. In the future, the situation continued to deteriorate and escalated into a war for independence, which began on March 26. Later, in December of the same year, this conflict expanded into the third Indo-Pakistani war, which culminated in the creation of the state of Bangladesh. The events that took place can be considered one of the first cases when a natural phenomenon provoked a civil war, the subsequent external intervention of a third force and the disintegration of one country into two independent states.

2. Flood in the Yellow River Valley - 1887, China (Victims: 900,000 - 2,000,000)

One of the most terrible floods in the modern history of mankind, which, according to various sources, claimed from 1.5 to 7 million human lives, happened in the late spring of 1887 in the northern provinces of China, in the Yellow River valley. Heavy rains over almost all of Hunan that spring caused the river to flood. The first flood occurred at a sharp bend, in the vicinity of the city of Zhangzhou.
Day after day, the bubbling waters invaded the territories of cities, destroying and devastating them. In total, 600 cities along the banks of the river were affected by the flood, including the walled city of Hunan. The swift current continued to wash away fields, animals, cities and people, flooding an area 70 km wide with water up to 15 meters deep.
Water often against the wind and tide slowly flooded terrace after terrace, each of which accumulated from 12 to 100 families. Of the 10 houses, only one or two survived. Half of the buildings were hidden under water. People were lying on the roofs of houses, and the old people who did not die of hunger were dying of cold.
The tops of the poplars that once stood along the roads stuck out of the water like seaweed. Here and there strong men were held behind old trees with thick branches and called for help. In one place, a box with a dead child was nailed to a tree, which was placed there for safety by his parents. The box contained food and a note with a name on it. In another place, a family was found, all members of which had died, the child was placed on the highest place ... well covered with clothes.
The devastation and devastation left after the waters receded were simply terrible. Statistics have not been able to cope with the task - to calculate. By 1889, when the Yellow River finally returned to its course, disease was added to all the misfortunes of the flood. It is estimated that half a million people died of cholera.

1. Great flood - 1931, China (Victims: 1,000,000 - 4,000,000)

The summer monsoon season of 1931 was unusually stormy. Heavy rains and tropical cyclones raged in the river basins. The dams withstood heavy rains and storms for weeks, but they eventually broke down and collapsed in hundreds of places. Approximately 333,000 hectares of land were flooded, at least 40,000,000 people lost their homes, and crop losses were enormous. In large areas, the water did not drain from three to six months. Disease, lack of food, lack of shelter led to the death of a total of 3.7 million people.
One of the epicenters of the tragedy was the city of Gaoyu in the northern province of Jiangsu. On August 26, 1931, a powerful typhoon struck the fifth largest lake in China, Gaoyu. The water level in it has already risen to a record high as a result of heavy rains in previous weeks. A squally wind raised high waves that beat against the dams. After midnight the battle was lost. The dams were broken in six places, and the largest gap reached almost 700 m. A stormy stream swept through the city and the province. In one morning alone, about 10,000 people died in Gaoyu.

No matter how far scientific and technological progress strides, catastrophes have happened, are happening and, probably, will happen for a long time to come. Some of them could have been avoided, but most of the worst events in the world were inevitable because they happened at the behest of mother nature.

Worst plane crash ever

Collision of two Boeing 747s

Humanity does not know a more terrible plane crash than the one that occurred on March 27, 1977 on the island of Tenerife, belonging to the Canary group. On this day, two Boeing 747s collided at Los Rodeo Airport, one of which belonged to KLM, the other to Pan American. This terrible tragedy claimed 583 lives. The reasons that led to this disaster is a fatal and paradoxical combination of circumstances.

Los Rodeos airport this ill-fated Sunday was seriously overloaded. The dispatcher spoke with a strong Spanish accent, and radio communications suffered from serious interference. Because of this, the Boeing commander KLM misinterpreted the command to abort the flight, which became the fatal cause of the collision of two maneuvering aircraft.

Only a few passengers managed to escape through the holes formed in the Pan American aircraft. Another Boeing lost its wings and tail, causing it to fall 150 meters from the crash site, after which it was dragged for another 300 meters. Both flying cars caught fire.

There were 248 passengers on board the Boeing KLM, none of whom survived. The Pan American plane was the site of the death of 335 people, including the entire crew, as well as the famous model and actress Yves Meyer.

The worst of man-made disasters

On July 6, 1988, the worst disaster in the history of oil production occurred in the North Sea. It happened on the Piper Alpha oil platform, which was built in 1976. The number of victims was 167 people, the company suffered a loss of about three and a half billion dollars.

The most annoying thing is that the number of victims could be much less if it were not for ordinary human stupidity. There was a large gas leak, followed by an explosion. But instead of stopping the oil supply immediately after the start of the accident, the service personnel waited for the command from the management.

The countdown went on for minutes, and soon the entire platform of the Occidental Petroleum corporation was engulfed in fire, even the living quarters caught fire. Those who could have survived the blast were burned alive. Only those who managed to jump into the water survived.

Worst water accident ever

When the topic of tragedies on the water is touched upon, the movie Titanic involuntarily comes to mind. Moreover, such a disaster really happened. But this shipwreck is not the worst in the history of mankind.

Wilhelm Gustloff

The sinking of the German ship "Wilhelm Gustloff" is considered to be the biggest disaster that occurred on the water. The tragedy occurred on January 30, 1945. Its culprit was a submarine of the Soviet Union, which knocked out a ship that could accommodate almost 9,000 passengers.

This, at that time, the perfect product of shipbuilding, was made in 1938. It seemed unsinkable and contained 9 decks, restaurants, a winter garden, climate control, gyms, theaters, dance floors, swimming pools, a church, and even Hitler's rooms.

Its length was more than two hundred meters, it could swim half the planet without refueling. The ingenious creation could not sink without outside interference. And it happened in the person of the crew of the S-13 submarine, commanded by A. I. Marinesko. Three torpedoes were fired at the legendary ship. In a matter of minutes, he was in the abyss of the waters of the Baltic Sea. All crew members were killed, including about 8,000 representatives of the German military elite who were evacuated from Danzig.

The crash of the Wilhelm Gustloff (video)

The greatest environmental tragedy

Shrunken Aral Sea

Among all environmental disasters, the leading place is occupied by the drying up of the Aral Sea. At its best, it was the fourth largest among all the lakes in the world.

The disaster occurred due to the unreasonable use of water, which was used to water gardens and fields. The shrinkage was due to the ill-considered political ambitions and actions of the leaders of those times.

Gradually, the coast line moved far inland, which led to the extinction of most species of flora and fauna. In addition, droughts began to increase, the climate changed significantly, navigation became impossible, and more than sixty people were left without work.

Where did the Aral Sea disappear: strange symbols on the dried bottom (VIDEO)

Nuclear disaster

What could be worse than a nuclear catastrophe? The lifeless kilometers of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl region are the embodiment of these fears. The accident occurred in 1986, when one of the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded early in April morning.

Chernobyl 1986

This tragedy claimed several hundred lives of tow trucks, thousands died over the next ten years. And how many people were forced to leave their homes, only God knows ...

Children of these people are still born with developmental anomalies. The atmosphere, land and water around the nuclear power plant are contaminated with radioactive substances.

The level of radiation in this region is still thousands of times higher than normal. No one knows how long it will take for people to settle in these places. The scale of this disaster is still not fully known.

Chernobyl accident 1986: Chernobyl, Pripyat - liquidation (VIDEO)

Disaster over the Black Sea: Tu-154 of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation crashed

The crash of the Tu-154 of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Not so long ago, there was a crash of a Tu-154 aircraft of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, heading to Syria. It claimed the lives of 64 talented artists of the Alexandrov Ensemble, nine well-known leading TV channels, the head of a charitable organization - the famous Doctor Liza, eight military men, two civil servants, and all crew members. In total, 92 people died in this terrible plane crash.

On this tragic morning in December 2016, the plane refueled at Adler, but crashed unexpectedly shortly after takeoff. The investigation was conducted for a long time, because it was necessary to know what was the cause of the Tu-154 crash.

The commission investigating the causes of the accident, among the circumstances that led to the disaster, called the overload of the aircraft, crew fatigue and the low professional level of training and organization of the flight.

The results of the investigation of the Tu-154 crash of the Ministry of Defense of Russia (VIDEO)

Submarine "Kursk"

Submarine "Kursk"

The crash of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, which killed 118 people on board, occurred in 2000 in the Barents Sea. This is the second largest accident in the history of the Russian submarine fleet after the B-37 disaster.

On August 12, as planned, preparations began for mock attacks. The last recorded actions on the boat were recorded at 11.15.

A few hours before the tragedy, the crew commander was informed about the cotton, which he did not pay attention to. Then the boat shook violently, which was associated with the inclusion of the antenna of the radar station. After that, the captain of the boat did not get in touch anymore. At 23.00 the situation on the submarine was declared as emergency, which was reported to the leadership of the fleet and the country. On the morning of the next day, as a result of search work, the Kursk was found at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 108 m.

The official version of the cause of the tragedy is the explosion of a training torpedo, which occurred as a result of a fuel leak.

Submarine Kursk: what really happened? (VIDEO)

The crash of the ship "Admiral Nakhimov"

The crash of the passenger ship "Admiral Nakhimov" occurred in August 1981 near Novorossiysk. There were 1234 people on board the ship, 423 of whom lost their lives on that ill-fated day. It is known that Vladimir Vinokur and Lev Leshchenko were late for this flight.

At 23:12, the ship collided with the dry cargo ship Pyotr Vasev, as a result of which the electric generator was flooded and the light went out on the Nakhimov. The ship became uncontrollable and continued to move forward by inertia. As a result of the collision, a hole of up to eighty square meters was formed in the starboard side. Panic began among the passengers, many climbed onto the port side and thus went down to the water.

Almost a thousand people ended up in the water, who, moreover, got dirty with fuel oil and paint. Eight minutes after the collision, the ship sank.

Steamboat Admiral Nakhimov: the wreck of the ship - Russian Titanic (VIDEO)

Oil platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico

The worst environmental disasters in the world in 2010 were supplemented by another one that happened in the Gulf of Mexico, eighty kilometers from Louisiana. This is one of the most dangerous man-made accidents for the environment. It happened on April 20 at the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.

As a result of pipe rupture, about five million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico.

A 75,000 sq. km, which is 5% of its total area. The disaster took the lives of 11 people, 17 were injured.

Catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico (VIDEO)

The crash of the Concordia

On January 14, 2012, the list of the most terrible incidents in the world was replenished with one more. Near the Italian Tuscany, the cruise ship "Costa Concordia" ran into a rock ledge, as a result of which a seventy-meter hole was formed in it. At this time, most of the passengers were in the restaurant.

The right side of the liner began to sink into the water, then it was thrown onto the shallows 1 km from the crash site. There were more than 4,000 people on the ship, who were evacuated all night, but not everyone was saved: 32 people still died and a hundred were injured.

Costa Concordia - the crash through the eyes of eyewitnesses (VIDEO)

Krakatoa eruption in 1883

Natural disasters show how insignificant and helpless we are before the phenomena of nature. But all the most terrible disasters in the world are nothing compared to the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, which occurred in 1883.

On May 20, a large smoke column could be seen over the Krakatoa volcano. At that moment, even at a distance of 160 kilometers from him, the windows of houses trembled. All nearby islands were covered with a thick layer of dust and pumice.

The eruptions continued until 27 August. The last explosion was the climax, as a result of which sound waves passed, several times rounded the entire planet. On the ships sailing in the Sunda Strait at that moment, the compasses stopped showing correctly.

These explosions submerged the entire northern part of the island. The seabed has been uplifted by the eruptions. A lot of ash from the volcano remained in the atmosphere for another two to three years.

The tsunami, whose height was thirty meters, washed away about three hundred settlements, claimed the lives of 36,000 people.

The most powerful eruption of Krakatau Volcano (VIDEO)

Earthquake in Spitak in 1988

On December 7, 1988, the list of "The best disasters in the world" was replenished with another one that occurred in the Armenian Spitak. On this tragic day, tremors literally wiped out this city from the face of the earth in just half a minute, destroyed Leninakan, Stepanavan and Kirovakan beyond recognition. In total, twenty-one cities and three hundred and fifty villages were affected.

In Spitak itself, the earthquake had a force of ten, Leninakan was hit by a force of nine, and Kirovakan by an force of eight, and almost the rest of Armenia was hit by a force of six. Seismologists have calculated that during this earthquake energy was released, corresponding to the strength of ten exploding atomic bombs. The wave that this tragedy caused was recorded by scientific laboratories almost all over the world.

This natural disaster took away 25,000 lives, 140,000 health, and 514,000 roofs over their heads. Forty percent of the industry of the republic is out of order, schools, hospitals, theaters, museums, houses of culture, roads and railways are destroyed.

The military, doctors, public figures of the whole country and abroad, both near and far, were called to help. Humanitarian aid was actively collected all over the world. Tents, field kitchens and first-aid posts were deployed throughout the area affected by the tragedy.

The saddest and most instructive thing in this situation is that the scale and victims of this terrible disaster could be many times less if the seismic activity of this region were taken into account and all buildings were built taking into account these features. The unpreparedness of rescue services also contributed.

Tragic days: earthquake in Spitak (VIDEO)

2004 tsunami Indian Ocean - Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka

In December 2004, a devastating tsunami caused by an underwater earthquake hit the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other countries. Huge waves devastated the area and brought death to 200,000 people. The most annoying thing is that most of the dead are children, since in this region there is a high proportion of children per population, in addition, children are physically weaker and less able to resist water than an adult.

Aceh in Indonesia suffered the most losses. Almost all the buildings there were destroyed, 168,000 people died.

Geographically, this earthquake was simply huge. Moved up to 1200 kilometers of rock. The shift occurred in two phases with an interval of two to three minutes.

The number of victims turned out to be so high because there was no general warning system along the entire coast of the Indian Ocean.

There is nothing worse than disasters and tragedies that deprive people of life, shelter, health, destroy industry and everything that a person has worked for many years. But it often turns out that the number of victims and destruction in such situations could be much less if everyone were conscientious about their professional duties, in some cases it was necessary to foresee an evacuation plan and a warning system for local residents. Let's hope that in the future humanity will find a way to avoid such terrible tragedies or reduce the damage from them.

Tsunami in Indonesia 2004 (VIDEO)

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Sometimes it is rather difficult to assess the scale of a particular global catastrophe, because the consequences of some of them can manifest themselves many years after the incident itself.

In this article, we will present the 13 worst disasters in the world. Among them are incidents that occurred on the water, in the air, and on the ground, through the fault of man and for reasons beyond his control, widely known and those that are not known to a very large circle of people.

The wreck of the superliner "Titanic"

Date Time: 14.04.1912 - 15.04.1912

Primary Victims: at least 1.5 thousand people

Secondary victims: unknown

The British superliner "Titanic", which was called the "most luxurious ship" of its time and "unsinkable", has gained worldwide fame. Unfortunately, sad. On the night of April 14-15, during its first flight, the superliner collided with an iceberg and sank after more than two hours. The accident was accompanied by numerous casualties among passengers and crew.

On April 10, 1912, the liner went on its last voyage from the port of Southampton to American New York, with almost 2.5 thousand people on board - passengers and crew members. One of the reasons for the disaster was that there was a tense ice situation along the route of the liner, but for some reason the captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, did not attach any importance to this even after receiving numerous warnings about floating icebergs from other ships. The liner was moving almost at its maximum speed (21-22 knots); there is a version that Smith fulfilled the unofficial requirement of the White Star Line, which owned the Titanic, to receive the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic, the prize for the fastest crossing of the ocean, on the first voyage.

Late at night on April 14, the superliner collided with an iceberg. An ice block, which the lookout did not notice in time, pierced the five bow compartments of the ship on the starboard side, which began to fill with water. The problem turned out to be that the designers did not count on the occurrence of a 90-meter hole in the ship, and here the entire survivability system turned out to be powerless. In addition, there were not enough lifeboats on the "ultra-safe" and "unsinkable" ship, and those that were, for the most part, were irrationally used (12-20 people sailed on the first boats, 65 on the last -80 with a capacity of 60 people). The result of the disaster was the death, according to various sources, from 1496 to 1522 passengers and crew members.

Today, the remains of the Titanic lie at a depth of about 3.5 km in the Atlantic. The ship's hull is gradually being destroyed and will finally disappear at the turn of the 21st and 22nd centuries.

Explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

Date Time: 26.04.1986

Primary Victims: 31 people from the Chernobyl-4 duty shift and fire brigades who arrived to extinguish the fire

Secondary victims: 124 people suffered acute radiation sickness but survived; up to 4 thousand liquidators died within 10 years after the liquidation; from 600,000 to a million suffered from the elimination of the consequences of radioactive contamination and stay in contaminated territories or in the direction of the radioactive cloud

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is a man-made disaster on the territory of Ukraine, between the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl. As a result of the explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a large amount of radioactive substances was released into the atmosphere, which led to the contamination of the surrounding territories and the formation of a radioactive cloud that swept across the territory of the USSR, Europe and reached the United States.

The accident occurred due to several factors - haste on the part of the Chernobyl management, insufficient competence of the Chernobyl-4 duty shift, errors in the design and construction of the RBMK-1000 reactor and the nuclear power unit itself. On the morning of April 26, tests of the reactor were planned at Chernobyl-4, which were supposed to demonstrate the possibility of operating the reactor cooling system in the interval between shutting down the reactor and starting emergency diesel generators. However, due to some factors, the test was postponed to the night of April 26-27, due to which it was carried out by an unprepared and unannounced shift, and xenon gas accumulated in the reactor during 10 hours of idle operation.

All this in total led to the fact that when the reactor was artificially shut down, its power first fell below a critical level, and then began to grow like an avalanche. Attempts to activate AZ-5 (emergency protection) instead of eliminating the emergency worked as an additional catalyst for increasing the temperature of the reactor, and as a result, a powerful explosion occurred. Only one person died directly in the explosion, another died a few hours later from his injuries. The rest of the victims received shock doses of radiation during the firefighting and primary clean-up process, which caused another 29 deaths during the following months of 1986.

The population of the first 10-kilometer, and then the 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was resettled. The resettled people were told that they would return in three days. However, no one actually came back. The elimination of the consequences of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant took more than a year, costing billions of rubles, 240 thousand people passed through the ChEZ in 1986-1987. The city of Pripyat was completely abandoned, hundreds of villages and villages were torn down, Chernobyl-4 is now a partially populated city - the military, police and employees of the remaining three units of the Chernobyl NPP live there.

Terrorist act 9/11

Date Time: 11.09.2001

Primary Victims: 19 terrorists, 2977 police, military, firefighters, medics and civilians

Secondary victims: 24 missing, exact number of injured unknown

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (better known as 9/11) are the largest terrorist attack in American history. A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks claimed about three thousand lives and caused tremendous destruction of the attacked buildings.

According to the official version of events, on the morning of September 11, four groups of a total of 19 terrorists, armed only with plastic knives, hijacked four passenger airliners, sending them to targets - the towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and the White House (or Capitol) in Washington. The first three planes hit objects, what happened on board the fourth is not known for certain - according to the official version, the passengers fought with the terrorists, which caused the plane to crash in Pennsylvania before reaching its target.

Of the more than 16,000 people who were in both towers of the WTC, at least 1966 people died - mainly those who were in the places of attack by aircraft and on the floors above, and also at the time of the collapse of the towers provided assistance to the victims and carried out the evacuation. 125 people died in the Pentagon building. All 246 passengers and crew members of the hijacked planes were also killed, along with 19 terrorists. During the liquidation of the consequences of the terrorist attack, 341 firefighters, 2 paramedics, 60 police officers and 8 ambulance officers died. The total death toll in New York alone was 2,606.

The 9/11 terrorist attack was a real tragedy in the United States, and citizens of another 91 states were also killed. The attack provoked the US invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, and later - in Syria under the flag of the fight against terrorism. Disputes about the true causes of the terrorist attack and the course of events on this tragic day have not subsided so far.

Accident at Fukushima-1

Date Time: 11.03.2011

Primary Victims: 1 person died from the consequences of radiation contamination, about 50 people died during the evacuation

Secondary victims: up to 150,000 people evacuated from the radioactive contamination zone, more than 1,000 of them died within a year after the disaster

The catastrophe that occurred on March 11, 2011, simultaneously combines the features of man-made and natural disasters. A massive magnitude 9 earthquake followed by a tsunami caused the Daiichi nuclear plant's power supply to fail, shutting down the cooling process for the nuclear fuel reactors.

In addition to the monstrous destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami, this incident led to serious radioactive contamination of the territory and water area. In addition, the Japanese authorities had to evacuate up to one hundred and fifty thousand people due to the high likelihood of serious illness due to exposure to severe radioactive exposure. The combination of all these consequences gives the Fukushima accident the right to be called one of the worst disasters in the world in the twenty-first century.

The total damage from the accident is estimated at $100 billion. This amount includes the costs of eliminating the consequences and paying compensation. But at the same time, we must not forget that work to eliminate the consequences of the disaster is still ongoing, which accordingly increases this amount.

In 2013, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was officially closed, and only works to eliminate the consequences of the accident are being carried out on its territory. Experts believe that it will take at least forty years to put the building and the contaminated area in order.

The consequences of the Fukushima accident are a reassessment of safety measures in nuclear energy, a fall in the cost of natural uranium, and, accordingly, a decrease in share prices of uranium mining companies.

Collision at Los Rodeos Airport

Date Time: 27.03.1977

Primary Victims: 583 people - passengers and crew of both airliners

Secondary victims: unknown

Possibly the biggest plane crash in the world was the collision of two planes in the Canary Islands (Tenerife) in 1977. At Los Rodeos Airport, two Boeing 747 airliners owned by KLM and Pan American collided on the runway. As a result, 583 out of 644 people died, including both passengers and crew of airliners.

One of the main reasons for this situation was the terrorist attack at Las Palmas airport, which was staged by terrorists from the MPAIAC organization (Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario). The attack itself did not cause any casualties, but the airport authorities closed the airport and stopped accepting planes, fearing repeated incidents.

Because of this, Los Rodeos was overloaded, as planes were sent to it, which followed in Las Palmas, in particular two Boeing 747 flights PA1736 and KL4805. At the same time, one cannot fail to note the fact that the plane owned by Pan American had enough fuel to land at another airport, but the pilots obeyed the dispatcher's order.

The collision itself was caused by fog, which severely limited visibility, as well as communication difficulties between controllers and pilots, which were caused by the heavy accent of the controllers, and the fact that the pilots constantly interrupted each other.

clash « Doña Paz" with a tanker « Vector"

Date Time: 20.12.1987

Primary Victims: up to 4386 people, of which 11 are members of the crew of the tanker "Vector"

Secondary victims: unknown

On December 20, 1987, the Philippine-registered passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector, resulting in the world's worst peacetime water disaster.

At the time of the collision, the ferry was following its standard Manila-Catbalogan route, which it operated twice a week. On December 20, 1987, around 06:30, the Doña Paz left Tacloban and headed for Manila. At about 10:30 p.m., the ferry passed through the Strait of Tablas near Marinduque, according to surviving eyewitnesses, the weather was clear, but with rough seas.

The collision occurred after the passengers fell asleep, the ferry collided with the tanker "Vector", which was transporting gasoline and oil products. Immediately after the collision, a strong fire broke out due to the fact that oil products spilled into the sea. A strong blow and a fire almost instantly caused panic among the passengers, in addition, according to the survivors, the ferry did not have the required number of life jackets.

Only 26 people survived, of which 24 were passengers from Doña Paz and two people from the Vector tanker.

Mass poisoning in Iraq, 1971

Date Time: autumn 1971 - end of March 1972

Primary Victims: officially - from 459 to 6000 deaths, unofficially - up to 100,000 deaths

Secondary victims: according to various sources, up to 3 million people who could somehow suffer from poisoning

At the end of 1971, a consignment of grain treated with methylmercury was imported to Iraq from Mexico. Of course, the grain was not intended for processing into food, and was to be used only for planting. Unfortunately, the local population did not know Spanish, and, accordingly, all the warning signs that said "Do not eat" turned out to be incomprehensible.

It should also be noted that the grain was delivered to Iraq late, as the planting season had already passed. All this led to the fact that in some villages the grain treated with methylmercury began to be eaten.

After eating this grain, symptoms such as numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, and impaired coordination were observed. As a result of criminal negligence, according to official data, about one hundred thousand people received mercury poisoning, of which 459 to 6 thousand died (unofficial data show other pictures - up to 3 million victims, up to 100 thousand deaths).

This incident has led the World Health Organization to take a closer look at the circulation of grain, and began to take the labeling of potentially dangerous products more seriously.

Mass destruction of sparrows in China

Date Time: 1958-1961

Primary Victims: at least 1.96 billion sparrows, no human casualties known

Secondary victims: 10 to 30 million Chinese starved to death in 1960-1961

As part of the economic policy of the "Great Leap Forward", in China, under the leadership of the Communist Party and Mao Zedong, a large-scale fight against agricultural pests was carried out, among which the Chinese authorities singled out the four most terrible - mosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.

Employees of the Chinese Research Institute of Zoology calculated that due to sparrows during the year, the volume of grain was lost, with which it would be possible to feed about thirty-five million people. Based on this, a plan was developed to exterminate these birds, which was approved by Mao Zedong on March 18, 1958.

All peasants actively began to hunt birds. The most effective method was to keep them from sinking to the ground. To do this, adults and children shouted, beat in basins, waved poles, rags, etc. This made it possible to frighten the sparrows and prevent them from landing on the ground for fifteen minutes. As a result, the birds just dropped dead.

After a year of sparrow hunting, the harvest really increased. However, later caterpillars, locusts, and other pests that ate the shoots began to actively breed. This led to the fact that a year later, crops fell sharply, and famine set in, which led to the deaths of 10 to 30 million people.

Piper Alpha oil rig disaster

Date Time: 06.07.1988

Primary Victims: 167 platform personnel

Secondary victims: unknown

The Piper Alpha platform was built in 1975, and oil production on it started in 1976. Over time, it was converted for gas production. However, on July 6, 1988, there was a gas leak that caused an explosion.

Due to the indecisive and ill-considered actions of the personnel, 167 people died out of 226 who were on the platform.

Of course, after this event, oil and gas production on this platform was completely stopped. Insured losses amounted to about US$3.4 billion. This is one of the most famous disasters in the world associated with the oil industry.

The death of the Aral Sea

Date Time: 1960 - present day

Primary Victims: unknown

Secondary victims: unknown

This incident is the biggest environmental disaster in the former Soviet Union. Once the Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake, after the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior in North America, Lake Victoria in Africa. Now in its place is the Aralkum Desert.

The reason for the disappearance of the Aral Sea is the creation of new irrigation channels for agricultural enterprises in Turkmenistan, which took water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. Because of this, the lake has strongly receded from the shore, which led to the exposure of the bottom covered with sea salt, pesticides and chemicals.

Due to the natural evaporation of the Aral Sea during the period from 1960 to 2007, the sea lost about a thousand cubic kilometers of water. In 1989, the reservoir split into two parts, and in 2003, the volume of water was about 10% of the original.

The result of this incident was serious changes in climate and landscape. In addition, out of 178 species of vertebrates that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 remained.

Deepwater Horizon oil platform explosion

Date Time: 20.04.2010

Primary Victims: 11 people from the platform personnel, 2 accident liquidators

Secondary victims: 17 platform personnel

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform on April 20, 2010 is considered one of the largest man-made disasters in terms of negative impact on the environment. Directly from the explosion, 11 people died and 17 were injured. Two more people died during the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.

Due to the fact that pipes were damaged from the explosion at a depth of 1500 meters, in 152 days approximately five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea, which created a slick with an area of ​​​​75 thousand kilometers, in addition, 1770 kilometers of the coast were polluted.

The oil spill endangered 400 animal species and also led to a ban on fishing.

Eruption of Mont Pelee volcano

Date Time: 8.05.1902

Primary Victims: from 28 to 40 thousand people

Secondary victims: not established for certain

On May 8, 1902, one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions in human history occurred. This incident led to the emergence of a new classification of volcanic eruptions, and changed the attitude of many scientists to volcanology.

The volcano woke up in April 1902, and within a month hot vapors and gases, as well as lava, accumulated inside. A month later, a huge grayish cloud erupted at the foot of the volcano. A feature of this eruption is that the lava came out not from the top, but from side craters that were located on the slopes. As a result of a powerful explosion, one of the main ports of the island of Martinique, the city of Saint-Pierre, was completely destroyed. The disaster claimed the lives of at least 28 thousand people.

Tropical Cyclone Nargis

Date Time: 02.05.2008

Primary Victims: up to 90 thousand people

Secondary victims: at least 1.5 million injured, 56 thousand missing

This disaster unfolded as follows:

• Cyclone Nargis formed on April 27, 2008, in the Bay of Bengal, and initially moved towards the coast of India, in a northwesterly direction;
• On April 28, it stops moving, but the speed of the wind in spiral eddies began to increase significantly. Because of this, the cyclone began to be classified as a hurricane;
• On April 29, the wind speed reached 160 kilometers per hour, and the cyclone resumed movement, but already in a northeasterly direction;
• On May 1, the direction of the wind movement changed to the east, and at the same time the wind was constantly increasing;
• On May 2, the wind speed reached 215 kilometers per hour, and at noon it reaches the coast of the Myanmar province of Ayeyarwaddy.

According to the UN, as a result of the violence of the elements, 1.5 million people were affected, of which 90,000 died and 56,000 went missing. In addition, the large city of Yangon was seriously damaged, and many settlements were completely destroyed. Part of the country was left without telephone, Internet and electricity. The streets were littered with debris, debris from buildings and trees.

To eliminate the consequences of this catastrophe, the combined forces of many countries of the world and such international organizations as the UN, EU, UNESCO were needed.

Why do people kill each other? The reasons can be explained in terms of natural selection or cruel necessity - when it comes to the struggle for resources or self-defense (ultimately, both there and there it is about survival). Another thing is that millennia of civilization development have led humanity to the conclusion that killing is bad, immoral and destructive.

Why does the program sometimes break down and a person starts killing for the sake of killing? Where do cruel people obsessed with death come from? Let's try to tell you about the ten most cruel maniacs in history.

John Wayne Gacy

This man is known as the "killer clown" (it was his story that prompted Stephen King to create one of the most terrible horror films - "It"). His life was, so to speak, quite typical for a maniac - as a child, Gacy survived a rape, his father was an alcoholic who abused his family.

For the first time, John Wayne Gacy went to jail at the age of 26 - for the rape of a teenage boy. Instead of 10 years, he served a year and a half: he was released for good behavior. The mistake of the penitentiary system cost America dearly. Once at large, Gacy bought a Pogo clown costume and began to earn extra money at city holidays in the suburbs of Chicago.

From 1972 to 1978, he raped and killed more than 30 people. These were young guys whom Gacy brought to his home, tortured and killed. They arrested him in 1978. The remains of 29 victims were found in the basement of his house. The jury sentenced John Wayne Gacy to 12 deaths, the only one of which was carried out on May 10, 1994.

Jeffrey Dahmer

Cannibal and murderer Jeffrey Dahmer was also sexually abused and bullied as a child. However, for the time being, he was an ordinary teenager - until he developed a strange habit of collecting animal corpses, which he placed in jars of formaldehyde.

For the first time, Dahmer killed at the age of 18 - a young man, a casual acquaintance, became his victim. The killer stunned him with dumbbells, strangled him, and then cut the body into pieces and buried them under the house. After that, life went on as usual, as if nothing had happened. Dahmer married, studied, was expelled for drunkenness, served in the army, worked ...

In 1987 he killed again and could no longer stop. In four years, he raped and killed 17 people. Once he brought home another victim, but a young man named Tracy Edwards managed to get out and call the police. Later, during a search in Dahmer's house, photographs of corpses, the bodies themselves and parts of the bodies with which the refrigerator was stuffed, were found. There was a skeleton in the closet, and three male torsos in the barrel of acid.

Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to fifteen life terms, but lived in prison for only three years - in 1994 he was beaten to death by a cellmate.

Ted Bundy

Theodore Bundy showed great promise - he was smart and talented, studied well and was in good standing with professors. It is unknown what went wrong. But in 1974, at the height of the academic year at the university, Bundy began to skip classes and was soon expelled. Around the same time, women began to disappear without a trace on the West Coast.

The exact number of victims of Ted Bundy is unknown. During the investigation, he confessed to 30 murders of women, but there could be more. Bundy met young girls, smiled charmingly and asked for help - he often used the trick with fake plaster to pretend that he was not able to cope on his own. The girl willingly helped him, for example, to carry the suitcase to the car, got into it to continue the acquaintance - and after that she was already doomed.

Bundy was arrested in 1975 after an attempted kidnapping of Carol DaRonch. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. At that time, Bundy managed to escape. He could not lead a normal life for a long time and in January 1978 - two weeks after the escape - he broke into the women's hostel and there in 20 minutes he killed two women and badly maimed another.

Ted Bundy was arrested almost by accident, but the police quickly realized that they were facing the most terrible man in America. He was charged with the murders - the court sentenced Bundy to death. Over the next few years, he told the FBI more and more details about the brutal crimes he committed, hoping that the execution would be postponed for some more time. He was eventually executed in 1989 in the electric chair.

Gary Ridgway

It is noteworthy that Ted Bundy, already sentenced to death, in a conversation with an FBI agent, made a fairly clear psychological portrait of the alleged maniac who operated in the early 80s in the United States. The editors of the site notes that according to this description, Ridgway could have been caught even then, but Bundy did not listen, and Ridgway was at large for another 17 years.

Gary Ridgway, nicknamed the “Green River Killer,” killed at least 70 women in two decades and is considered one of the bloodiest and most brutal maniacs in the world. He was arrested after one of the victims managed to break free and flee. Ridgway began to confess to the murders, and the number of his victims rose from 42 (of which the police knew) to 71. In 2003, he was sentenced to 48 life terms without parole.

Andrey Chikatilo

An inconspicuous engineer named Chikatilo lived in the city of Shakhty and did not attract the attention of the police for years. It never occurred to anyone that this little man could be guilty of the brutal murders of young women and children. From 1978 to 1984, 32 people disappeared or were found brutally murdered in the Rostov region.

The first time Chikatilo was arrested in 1984 - he molested young girls at the bus station in Rostov. At the same time, a completely different person, a certain Anatoly Kravchenko, who in 1983 slandered himself under torture in the police, had already been executed for the murder of one of his victims.

The first arrest ended in nothing for Andrei Chikatilo - due to a mismatch in blood types and sperm, there was no evidence against him. Maniac stayed at large for another six years and was arrested in 1990. On the tenth day, he began to give confessions and spoke about dozens of tortured victims. On the conscience of Chikatilo at least 52 murders. He was shot on February 14, 1994.

Pedro Alonso Lopez - the most brutal maniac in history

This man has been “flaunting” in the Guinness Book of Records for several decades as the most cruel maniac in the world. The editors of the site find out.rf sincerely hope that no one else will take this place.

It is believed that this man is responsible for more than three hundred murders that were committed in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Pedro Alonso Lopez, who is called the "monster of the Andes", lived as a child with an overage pervert who sheltered him - after the boy was thrown into the street by his own prostitute mother.

At the age of 18, Lopez brutally took revenge on the "benefactor" by raping and killing him with a gang of friends. For this crime, Lopez received 8 years in prison. After his release, he went to Peru and there he began to kill and rape. The main victims were teenage girls. From 1975 to 1978, according to some sources, he killed at least a hundred people.

The police in the poor countries of Latin America do not have much influence. According to rumors, Lopez was ordered to get out of the country by a Peruvian crime boss. The killer left the country but continued his atrocities in neighboring Ecuador. One day, the girl he grabbed broke free and ran away, and Lopez was detained. The authorities could not believe their ears when the maniac began to paint his crimes in colors.

Psychopath and murderer Pedro Lopez decided to prove to the police that he really killed a lot of people. He showed the burial place of his victims - an inspection showed that there were the remains of at least fifty girls and women. Lopez was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence in Ecuador. According to rumors, he was either transferred to compulsory treatment, or even released at all.

If you like to tickle your nerves with scary stories, we suggest you switch from real horror to fictional ones: life is already full of horror and pain. Read about the scariest horror movies.
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