List of Freak Disasters in History

Posted in History

1952
Dec. 4 - 7, London, England: high-pressure system settled over London, trapping pollution near the ground. Some 4,000 people died in ?Great Smog,? mostly from respiratory and cardiac distress.
1981
July 18, Kansas City, Mo.: suspended walkway in Hyatt Regency Hotel collapsed; 113 dead, 186 injured.
1982
Sept. 29 - Oct. 1: seven people in the Chicago area were killed after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. 31 million bottles of Tylenol were eventually taken off the market. The murderer was never caught.
1990
July 2, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: a stampede in a 1,800-foot-long pedestrian tunnel leading from Mecca to a tent city for pilgrims resulted in the deaths of 1,426 pilgrims.
1991
Nov. 29, nr. Coalinga, Calif.: a massive traffic accident during a severe dust storm involved 104 vehicles in a pileup on Interstate 5; 17 killed.
1995
June 29, Seoul, Korea: five-story wing of Sampoong Department Store collapsed, killing at least 206 people, injuring 910 others.
1996
May 10 - 11, Mt. Everest, Nepal: 8 climbers died near summit during storm on mountain. A total of 15 climbers died that season, the worst single loss of life on Everest.
1997
April 15, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: fire and stampede in pilgrim's encampment killed 217 and injured at least 1,300.
2004
Feb. 1, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage, during the stone-throwing ritual, killed 251 pilgrims.
2005
Aug. 31, Baghdad, Iraq: rumor of a bomber led to a stampede of Shiite pilgrims on a bridge over the Tigris, killing more than 950.

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