Disasters in the world of the 20th century. The most terrible tragedies of the 20th century. Opinion of the President of the Russian Federation

The sinking of the Titanic is mistakenly considered the shipwreck of the century. The reason for this misconception is clear. This ocean-going vessel was built with unprecedented chic, intended for first-class passengers. Swimming pool, promenades, Turkish baths, tennis court... The cabins were decorated in various artistic styles - from antique to modern. The most luxurious ones included a living room, two bedrooms, a dressing room, a bathroom, a toilet, and a personal promenade deck 15 meters long.

In this class sailed millionaires, actors, diplomats, bankers and other cream of high society. Thanks to these circumstances, the crash of the liner was presented as a universal tragedy, the worse of which nothing was and could not be. In this disaster, we recall, 1,495 passengers and crew members died.

There is no point in giving details of this disaster. Thanks to the film and the endless stream of publications on this topic for more than a century, they are known better than Newton’s Third Law.

However, there are shipwrecks that are much more terrifying in terms of the number of victims. Thus, about 7 thousand people died on the German ship Goya. The ship was torpedoed during the Second World War. And the bloodiest maritime tragedies are also associated with military actions. But we will not consider them, since in this case we are not talking about the arbitrariness of the elements or navigation errors, but about the deliberate destruction of enemy ships.

Help came too late

The second deadliest shipwreck in peacetime occurred on September 26, 2002, when the Senegalese state ferry Joola capsized off the coast of the Gambia. 1863 people died. A total of 551 bodies were found. Of these, 93 were identified. The rest were buried in a specially organized cemetery on the coast of the Gambia.

Only 64 passengers managed to escape. But this is not the merit of the rescue services, which took a criminally long time to help drowning people. The overturned ferry went under water for 4 hours, sinking at 15.00. And all this time, people, fighting for their lives, clung to the hull of the ship. The lucky few were saved by fishermen whose boats were nearby. Rescuers appeared only the next morning.

On September 26, 2002, the Senegalese state ferry Joola capsized off the coast of Gambia (Photo: youtube.com)

The ferry, built in Germany in 1990, was designed to sail in coastal waters, but not on the open sea. As a result of intensive use and poor maintenance, the ship was severely worn out.

And finally, the main cause of the disaster was the more than threefold overload of the ferry, designed for 550 passengers and 30 crew members. On Joola there were more than 1800 only legal passengers who had tickets. About a hundred more stowaways were secretly picked up by team members.

Since the lower levels of the ferry were hot and stuffy due to its congestion, passengers sought to move to the upper deck. This caused the ship's center of gravity to rise well above the waterline. Combined with strong sea conditions, this led to the vessel capsizing.

By hook or by crook, the government has misled the Senegalese about the real reasons for the death of their compatriots. Both the number of victims and the number of passengers, of whom there were allegedly only 612, were deliberately underestimated. No conclusions were drawn regarding the inaction of rescuers from the Senegalese Navy. This led to widespread discontent. In addition, the French government put pressure on the president of the country, demanding an objective investigation, since 10 French were among the victims.

A government crisis has broken out in the country. The president Abdulai Wad dismissed the prime minister Mame Boye. Most ministers were also dismissed, primarily security officials, accused of inaction. However, this did not reassure Paris; in 2008, the French Court of Appeal issued an arrest warrant for Boyer. However, a year later the order was canceled.

New Prime Minister Idrissa Seck launched a new investigation. It was this that indicated the death of 1863 people in a shipwreck.

Passengers jumped into the burning sea

The largest shipwreck occurred on December 20, 1987. The Philippine ferry Dona Paz, traveling from Tacloban to Manila, collided in the Tablas Strait with the tanker Vector, which was carrying more than a thousand cubic meters of gasoline. 4386 people died, 26 were saved.

The weather was clear, but the sea was rough. At 22:30, when most of the passengers had already fallen asleep, a collision occurred. At that moment, there was only one crew member on the ferry bridge. The remaining 65 people were in their cabins watching TV and drinking beer.

Survivors said that immediately after the collision a fire started on the ferry. Spilled oil products were blazing across a large expanse of water. The crew, in a panic, rushed around the ship along with the passengers, not trying to restore at least some order. There were no life jackets; they were locked up.

The ship was doomed; two hours later it sank. And all this time, desperate people jumped overboard, even though the chances of escape were slim. Firstly, gasoline that had spilled from the tanker was burning around the ship. Secondly, the strait was infested with sharks. Thirdly, as was said, the sea was quite rough.

During the investigation into the causes of the shipwreck, it turned out that the crew was recruited mainly from non-professionals, who also had poor discipline. The huge number of victims should be attributed to the greed of the shipowners. The Donya Pass, built in Japan in 1963 and repaired at the docks a month before the collision, was designed to carry 1,518 passengers. The shipowners tried for a long time to hide the truth, claiming that 1,525 tickets were sold. Survivors testified that the ferry was packed to capacity - people were located in all available spaces, in the corridors and on the deck. As a result of a thorough investigation, it was determined that there were 4,341 passengers.

Most of the 26 survivors (24 ferry passengers and 2 tanker crew members) suffered burns from the burning fuel. The bodies of thousands of passengers were never found. Three hundred corpses washed ashore over the next few days. All of them, according to Philippine authorities, were partially eaten by sharks.

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". The warship, confiscated by the Germans after they occupied Norwegian territories during the Great Patriotic War, killed 7,000 people. 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.

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 “water” mortality. 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 the 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, an explosion at the 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 - a warrior whose total number of millions of victims 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. In addition to death, the 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.

Photo: Vasily Maximov / AFP / East News

Alexander Golts, military observer:

The claims of the Russian Ministry of Defense against Israel do not seem convincing or thorough to me. As far as I can understand from Konashenkov’s own words, the Russian Il-20 was much higher than the Israeli fighters. In this case, the words that they “covered themselves” with our Il are rather an artistic image. Most likely, the Syrian missilemen fired at the Israeli planes, missed, the missile went higher and found a new target. Why the Syrians did not destroy the missile, although they had such an opportunity, is a mystery. I also don’t really believe that the Israelis, planning to strike in Latakia, warned the Russians just a minute in advance. Russian S-400s operate there. And it is simply dangerous for Israeli aircraft to enter their coverage area without warning. Our military should have learned that the plane was shot down by the Syrians a second after the incident. But the official version appeared 10 hours later. All this time, the Ministry of Defense was coming up with a version - how to explain that Syrian air defenses shot down our plane and 15 people were killed. If you explain this “head-on”, then even the most naive person will have questions. Therefore, they remembered the “Israeli military.”

Grigory Kosach, professor of the Department of Modern Oriental Studies, Faculty of History, Political Science and Law, Russian State University for the Humanities:

I can note that this morning the largest Arabic-language publication Al-Sharq Al Ausat wrote only that a Russian plane was shot down by Syrian air defense forces, putting an end to that and without delving into the Israeli problem. I cannot rule out a tragic mistake, this always happens, but even if this is so, the statements of the Russian Ministry of Defense look strange due to the fact that for a long time Israel did everything possible to avoid being drawn into the internal Syrian conflict, and its officials raced to declare close cooperation with the Russian military and intelligence services on the issue of Syria and ruled out a possible incident.

It is difficult for me to talk about the relationship between the Russian defense department and the Kremlin administration, but I think that such a harsh statement from the Ministry of Defense indicates the presence within the department of forces that are not interested in the current level of relations with Israel. It seems to me that the Russian Ministry of Defense is gaining strength and is trying to conduct an independent foreign policy. Which, generally speaking, is somewhat alarming. Most likely, there is some gap between the opinions of the Ministry of Defense and the Kremlin as a whole - let’s call it minimal for now.

The big question is how the Russian military in Syria treats Israel. It is no secret that Israel tried to provide assistance to the Syrian opposition when the so-called “Southern Security Zone” adjacent to the Golan Heights existed. It is now occupied by government troops. Israel is attacking Iranian targets in Syria; it has been active in the Syrian direction due to Iran's presence there. Perhaps someone in the Ministry of Defense thinks that Israel’s demands for the withdrawal of pro-Iranian formations from the Golan Heights - which Putin and Netanyahu recently agreed upon - should not be satisfied.

We remember that just yesterday Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Erdogan agreed on the future fate of the province of Idlib, where a military operation had recently been planned. Now this operation will not happen, but we see that such an agreement was reached virtually without the participation of Iran and Assad himself. And the Russian Ministry of Defense, which operates “on the ground” in direct connection with Iranian and Assad structures, seems to have to make statements that meet their interests. For both Iran and official Damascus, Israel is the devil incarnate, and both are dissatisfied with Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Latakia, the patrimony of the Assad regime.

I highly doubt that the Israelis had a conscious provocative goal to “hide behind” our plane. I think now the Ministry of Defense is simply puffing out its cheeks. He needs to explain the deaths of 15 people. But note that the very fact of Israel striking Iranian targets in Latakia was not discussed in Konashenkov’s statement. That is, Russia does not object to the very fact of shelling. Moreover, Israel is now increasing such attacks. For Russia, these Israeli actions are indirectly beneficial - they are directed against Iran, and Iran’s excessive strengthening in Syria is unprofitable for Russia itself. In addition, Iranian activity is interfering with some of Russia's negotiating efforts regarding Syria. But perhaps some of these strikes were not coordinated with Russia. So, it is possible that some disagreements have accumulated on this issue.

Nevertheless, most likely no one will want to escalate the situation. Nobody needs this. The countries may have to agree to have Israel give early warning of its strikes. The question may also be raised that strikes should not be carried out on targets where there are Russian military personnel. After all, you need to understand that such objects cannot be reduced to the Khmeimim base.

Remember the movie "Troubling Sunday", in which firefighters saved a port city from the threat of an explosion on a burning tanker? Almaty also had its own “alarming” Saturday, but it was more tragic. 5 photos.

27 years ago, on May 20, on the railway switch of the access tracks of the Alma-Ata2 station, located almost in the center of the city, two trains collided - one was pushing 6 tanks with liquefied gas in front of itself, and the oncoming diesel locomotive was pulling three cars with household junk. The impact caused a hole in the second gas tank along the route; the gas under pressure rushed forward, reached the hot manifold of the diesel locomotive and burst into flames.

The locomotive caught fire and its driver died in the fire. A column of black smoke rose over the city, an escalated alarm was announced, and fire crews rushed to the incident. At that moment, when the firefighters of the nearest unit had already arrived and began to turn around, the first tank along the route exploded. The commander of the fifth unit, Erkin Iskakov, immediately died, more than a dozen firefighters received severe burns, and civilians were also injured. In total, 99 people were hospitalized in the city with burns. Following this, all the carriages caught fire, 13 one-story houses located along the railway tracks and several warehouse buildings and workshops caught fire.

The firefighters were faced with the task of preventing the explosions of the remaining tanks by any means. Otherwise, the damage from such a disaster would be terrible.

Almost all the city’s fire brigades arrived at the scene, and regional departments also began to arrive. The flaming cars were uncoupled, pulled back, and began to cool and extinguish. For six hours, more than two hundred firefighters fought against the terrible elements, were able to prevent explosions of the remaining tanks, and saved many lives.

But the losses were terrible - a total of 36 people died. Nine of them were firefighters: E. Iskakov, I. Abdranov, K. Akkulov, S. Alimtaev, R. Kasymov, M. Malikov, V. Nikulenko, I. Safargaliev, F. Sharipov - they died a few days after the disaster. Then I heard a formula from doctors: if the area of ​​body burns plus age is more than 100, then there is no chance of survival.

My story, I saw everything with my own eyes. We remembered the guys and decided to write.