Every year dozens of terrible things happen in the world man-made disasters, which cause significant harm to the global environment. Today I invite you to read about several of them in the continuation of the post.
Petrobrice - Brazilian state 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.
Petrobrice paid $56 million in fines 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 (a salt of nitric acid) that were in a warehouse exploded finished products. 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 died, total number more than 3,00 were injured, thousands of residential houses and buildings were destroyed or damaged, including almost 80 schools, 2 universities, 185 kindergartens, 40,000 people were left homeless, more than 130 enterprises virtually ceased their activities. total amount damage - 3 billion euros.
On November 13, 2002, near the coast of Spain, he fell into heavy storm oil tanker Prestige, whose holds contained more than 77,000 tons of fuel oil. 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 Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, 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.
The power supply was disrupted due to the accident. Siberian regions, 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 environmental disaster occurred in western Hungary. At a large aluminum production plant, 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 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast American state Louisiana, after an explosion that killed 11 people and a 36-hour fire, the Deepwater Horizon manned drilling rig sank.
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 earthquakes of magnitude 9.0, the coast came huge wave tsunami, 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, melting 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 liquidation The accident, including the dismantling of 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, which claimed 13 lives and brought the island nation to the brink of 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
Every year there are many disasters in the world of different nature because of natural phenomena, technical problems, specialist errors and many other unfavorable factors. All of them often lead to tragic consequences.
They remain forever in the memory of those people who have lost relatives and friends. In memory of those who provided any assistance at the center of events, and all those who could not help, but were worried about the fate of people in trouble. This article contains the most terrible disasters that have ever happened in history: on water, in air, and on land.
In 1931, China experienced the largest flood in history. The Yangtze River ranks third among large rivers, about 700 flow into it different rivers. Every year during the rains it overflowed and caused damage.
In August 1931, the Yangtze River and the neighboring Yellow River overflowed their banks, merging into one powerful stream, and destroyed the dams. This led to a global flood. They, destroying everything in their path, flooded 16 Chinese provinces, which is about 300,000 thousand hectares of land. 
More than 40 million people were affected, left without shelter, clothing or food. The water did not go away for about 4 months. As a result of prolonged famine and disease, the death toll exceeded 3.5 million people. To prevent such a tragedy, two protective dams were later built and two reservoirs were created.
Fertilizer plant
In 1984, the largest environmental disaster in history occurred in the Indian city of Bhopal. On the night of December 3, at a chemical plant producing fertilizers, one of the tanks containing the poisonous gas methyl isocyanate exploded. The volume of the tank was 40 tons.
Presumably, the cause of this accident was a violation of safety regulations. Heating occurred in the tank containing methyl isocyanate and reached a critical temperature. As a result, the emergency valve burst and gas escaped from the container. 
Because of strong wind the gas cloud quickly spread over 40 square kilometers. Unsuspecting, sleeping people had their eyes and lungs eaten away. In the first week, more than 3000 thousand people. In subsequent years, 15,000 thousand people died from disease. And about 100,000 thousand people needed treatment.
The uncleaned area of the chemical plant is still infecting people. Thousands of people suffer from toxic contaminations, many children are born with disabilities.
Chernobyl tragedy
One of the worst nuclear accidents occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. The accident was level 7 on the nuclear event scale.
The nuclear power plant was located near the city of Pripyat, which was built specifically for station workers. At that moment, more than 47,000 thousand people lived in it. In the early morning of April 26 there was powerful explosion nuclear reactor in the building of the fourth power unit. 
This was led to by the ill-conceived and erroneous actions of the station engineers during testing of the turbogenerator. As a result of the accident, the nuclear reactor was completely destroyed, and a fire started in the power unit building, which was extinguished for more than a week. 600 firefighters died while extinguishing it, receiving the largest dose of radiation.
The consequences of the accident were terrifying; thousands of people lived their calm, measured lives just a few kilometers from the accident and did not know what had happened. Information about the accident was not disseminated for the first 24 hours, but when the release radioactive substances reached a critical point, the evacuation of Pripyat and nearby settlements began.
About 800,000 thousand people participated in the liquidation of the accident. According to unofficial data, half of the liquidators received a lethal dose of radiation.
Boat trip
In 1987, the largest water disaster occurred. On December 20, the Philippine ferry Dona Paz, carrying passengers, collided with the tanker Vector, which was carrying more than 8,000 thousand barrels of oil.
As a result of the impact, the ferry was broken in half, and oil poured out of the holes in the tanker. Almost instantly a fire started, both ships and the surface of the water were burning. To escape, people jumped into the water, where fire and sharks awaited them.
Rescuers arrived only after 8 hours, only 26 people remained alive. The death toll has exceeded 4200 people. The exact cause of the accident has not been established.
Deadly tsunami
December 26, 2004 at Indian Ocean The most powerful tsunami in history occurred. Due to a strong underwater earthquake of magnitude 9, a rock shift occurred at a depth of 30 kilometers, which gave rise to this destructive tsunami. At that time, there was no system in the Indian Ocean that would detect a tsunami, so they could not prevent this tragedy.
Within a few hours, waves up to 20 meters high reached the coast, crushing everything in their path. Within hours, the waves caused incredible destruction in Thailand, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
In total, the tsunami reached the shores of 18 countries. It claimed the lives of more than 300,000 thousand people, 15,000 thousand people were missing and about 1.5 million people were left homeless. Restoration work lasted about five years, houses, schools and resort areas were rebuilt. After the tragedy, a system of evacuation of people was organized and a tsunami warning system was created.
Cyclone named after a flower
The devastating cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on May 3, 2008. The wind speed reached 240 km/h. tropical cyclone destroyed many small settlements. And almost completely destroyed Big City Yangon. The population was left without shelter and electricity. 
As a result of the most terrible natural disaster, the death toll was 90,000 thousand people. More than 55,000 thousand people were never found. In total, more than 1.5 million people were affected. Many countries came to the rescue of Myanmar, providing material and humanitarian assistance.
Nature's cruelty
A powerful earthquake destroyed part of the island of Haiti in 2010, the magnitude of which was 7.0. The first tremors were registered on January 12, 20 kilometers from the capital of Haiti. A number of the strongest tremors continued with tremors of magnitude 5.9.
After the terrible shaking, more than 3 million people were left homeless. 60% of residential premises and many public buildings such as schools, hospitals, cathedrals. 
The number of deaths during the natural disaster and under the rubble was 222,570 thousand people, 311,000 thousand people were wounded, and about 1,000 people were never found.
Not a cheap flight
The crash of a Japanese Boeing 747 in 1985 is considered the worst air disaster. And it ranks second in terms of death toll. On August 12, due to a Japanese holiday, there were 524 people on board along with the crew.
The cause of the disaster was poor-quality repairs to the aircraft. 12 minutes into the flight, the plane’s keel comes off, the control system fails, and at an altitude of 1,500 meters the plane crashes into a mountain. 
Due to a strong fire at the crash site, the rescue operation began only 14 hours later. Many of the wounded never received help. Rescuers found notes from passengers with appeals to their families. Dead 520 people, only 4 people survived.
This article describes only small part disasters recorded in world history. The most widespread and tragic of them are collected here. All of them claimed millions of lives of children, adults, and elderly people different nationalities and religions. After all, trouble is indifferent to gender, age and race.
The worship of the four natural elements can be traced in many philosophical and religious movements. Certainly, modern man, thinks it's funny. He, like the hero of Turgenev's novel, Evgeny Bazarov, considers nature not a temple, but rather a workshop. However, nature often reminds us of its omnipotence by throwing natural disasters at people. And then there is nothing left but to pray to the elements for mercy. Throughout its history, which ones natural disasters did not interfere in the life of humanity.
Element earth
The epicenter was in Shaanxi province. Today it is difficult to say what its magnitude was, but some scientists, based on geological data, call it 8 points. But the point is not so much in its power as in the number of victims - 830 thousand people. This number of victims is the highest among all earthquake cases.
2.2 billion cubic meters - such is the scale, or rather the volume, of the landslide; all this loose material slid from the slopes of the Muzkol ridge (height - 5 thousand m above sea level). The village of Usoy was completely overwhelmed, the flow of the Mugrab River stopped, a new lake Sarez appeared, which, growing, flooded several more villages.
Element water
The most destructive flood also occurred in China. The season was rainy, resulting in flooding of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. In total, about 40 million people were affected, and 4 million people died. In some places, the water receded only after six months.
Although why look for natural disasters in Asian countries when a devastating flood occurred in 1824. And today on the walls of some old houses you can see memorial markers that demonstrate the water level on the streets at that time. Fortunately, the death toll did not reach a thousand, but no one knows the exact number of victims; many are missing.
This year saw one of the worst tsunamis in Europe. It affected many coastal countries, but greatest damage suffered by Portugal. The capital Lisbon was practically wiped off the face of the earth. Over 100 thousand people died, cultural and historical monuments disappeared, for example, paintings by Rubens and Caravaggio.
Element air
Hurricane San Calixto II, which raged for a week in the Lesser Antilles Caribbean Sea, took with it over 27 thousand lives of innocent people. There is no exact data on its strength or trajectory; it is likely that its speed exceeded 320 km/h.
This powerful hurricane originated in the Atlantic basin, its maximum speed reached 285 km/h. 11 thousand people died and approximately the same number disappeared without a trace.
8.
You and I became witnesses to this event. News footage showed the devastation of the hurricane, which killed 1,836 people and caused $125 billion in damage.
Element fire
That hot summer in Greece there were 3 thousand fires. Territories affected with total area 2.7 thousand sq. km. These were agricultural lands, forests, olive groves. The fires claimed 79 lives.
Speaking of fire, how can we not mention fiery eruptions. The powerful eruption of Krakatoa that year destroyed the island itself, killing 2 thousand people. The explosion of the volcano caused a tsunami that hit neighboring islands, killing another 36 thousand people.
We want to think that tragedies at least teach us something - like helping each other through difficult situations and apply joint efforts to solve problems.
But sometimes, even when the disaster is over, the tragedy still continues. People are falling into chaos and making the worst moments in humanity's life even worse. And as a result, the details of the darkest events become so gruesome that they tend to be omitted from history books.
1. Events in Tiananmen Square - China billed the families of the victims for the spent bullets
In 1989, after the death of the controversial government and politician Hu Yaobang, Chinese students took to Tiananmen Square to try to bring about real change in China. They put forward a list of demands and went on a hunger strike in hopes of ending corruption and taking the first steps towards democracy.
However, their efforts were in vain as the army intervened in the situation. By order of the government, soldiers and tanks moved to Tiananmen Square, which is located in the very center of Beijing. In that unequal battle At least 300 students were killed. According to some estimates, the death toll reached 2,700 people.
Usually this is where the story ends, but there is one small detail that makes it even worse. According to some sources, after the murder, the Chinese government billed the families of the victims for the bullets spent. Parents of protesting students had to pay 27 cents (in modern money) for each bullet fired at their child.
The Chinese government denied the accusations against itself. However, there is every reason to believe that the above reports were true.
2. The My Lai Massacre - President Nixon pardoned the man responsible for the crime.
The worst incident that occurred during the Vietnam War is considered mass kill in Songmi. In 1968 American soldiers brutally massacred 350 civilians South Vietnam. They raped women, mutilated children - and did not suffer any punishment for it.
Of all those involved in the murder, only one soldier was charged: William Colley. The court found Colley guilty of murder 22 civilians and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, he never went to prison. He was put under house arrest, which, however, did not last long. Colley remained under house arrest for only three years before President Richard Nixon pardoned him.
However, this story is not so simple. The man who informed the American authorities about the brutal murder and testified against the people who committed it was named Hugh Thompson. He risked his own life trying to save as many Vietnamese as possible. Thompson received death threats as a reward for his bravery and heroism. Every morning unknown people they left mutilated animals on the porch of his house. For the rest of his life, Thompson was forced to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.
3. Pompeii – It became so hot in the neighboring city that people’s heads could not stand it and literally exploded
The death of Pompeii is one of the most infamous natural Disasters in the history of mankind. The whole city was submerged in the sea volcanic ash, which claimed the lives of thousands of people.
However, compared to Herculaneum, Pompeii, so to speak, got off easy. A man who witnessed the volcanic eruption that occurred in 79 AD described this terrible disaster: “A huge black cloud descended on land and sea, accompanied by bright flashes of flame.”
This huge black cloud covered the whole of Herculaneum. Its streets became incredibly hot - the air temperature reached more than 500 degrees Celsius. In such unbearable conditions, people’s skin instantly burned, their bones turned black, and their heads could not stand it and literally exploded.
4. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 – Radioactive fallout led to an increase in cancer rates and car accidents
On September 11, 2001, when planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, approximately 3,000 innocent people died. It was the worst terrorist attack in US history. However, over the next few years, the number of its victims increased significantly.
After sad famous events On September 11, 2001, people became afraid to fly on airplanes, causing airline ticket sales to drop by 20 percent. Instead, everyone began to actively use cars, despite the fact that terrestrial view transport is considered more dangerous than air transport. In the twelve months following the attack, nearly 1,600 Americans died in car crashes because they were afraid to fly.
But the worst impact of the events of September 11, 2001 is the increase in cancer rates. The Twin Towers were built from 400 tons of asbestos, which after the explosion turned to dust and spread throughout the city. According to some data, more than 400 thousand people were affected by the asbestos cloud. As a result, cancer rates in New York City have increased significantly since the tragedy. In addition, over 70 percent of the people who helped cope with the consequences of the explosion now suffer from lung problems.
5. Great Famine in Ireland - Queen Victoria forbade the Sultan to help her people
When famine struck Ireland, Majid Abdul Khan, Sultan Ottoman Empire, volunteered to help the country. In 1847, he loaded the ships with food and offered Ireland financial assistance£10,000 to help fight the crisis.
Oddly enough, British diplomats rejected his offer. They explained this by saying that, according to royal protocol, the amount of foreign aid should not exceed the amount that Queen Victoria is willing to sacrifice to save her people. At their request, the Sultan reduced his monetary donation to 1000 pounds sterling.
Be that as it may, the Irish were still delighted with his “gesture of great generosity.” As a token of gratitude, they wrote to him: “For the first time in history, a Muslim ruler representing a large Islamic population shows warm sympathy for a Christian people.”
6. Black Death– The plague led to the genocide of the Jews
The Black Death in the mid-14th century killed between 75 and 200 million people, destroying about a third of Europe's population. It was terrible tragedy, which, oddly enough, was blamed on the Jews.
The fact is that Europeans considered the plague to be part of a Jewish conspiracy. They claimed that the Jews were poisoning the water in wells throughout the country in order to make the Christian people suffer. At first it was just a theory, which later received “confirmation”. The Inquisition began to hunt Jews; they were tortured until they agreed that they were responsible for the plague. After this, the people rebelled. They took children from Jewish families. They tied Jews to poles and burned them alive. During one such incident, more than 2,000 people were killed.
The Black Death, of course, was not part of a Jewish conspiracy, but people believed otherwise. Their revenge spared no one. The city of Strasbourg even passed a law that banned Jews from entering the city for 100 years.
7. Hurricane Katrina – Refusal to help refugees
When in 2005 New Orleans Hurricane Katrina struck, leaving countless people homeless. In search of safer places, they were forced to flee to neighboring cities. The New Orleans police helped them, showing them the way to the bridge that led to the city of Gretna.
However, on the bridge these people encountered an obstacle in the form of four police cars that blocked the road. Police officers stood next to them, holding shotguns. They chased away the refugees, shouting after them: “We don’t need another Superdome here!” According to some reports, they even took food and water from people before driving them away.
Arthur Lawson, Gretna police chief, confirmed the incident. “They don’t belong here,” he commented on his refusal to help refugees from New Orleans.
8. Wounded Knee Massacre - Twenty soldiers were awarded Medals of Honor
In 1890, American troops attacked a Lakota Indian camp. The attack killed approximately 200 innocent men, women and children. The people who did this (this event went down in history as the Massacre at Wounded Knee) were real killers. However, twenty of them were awarded the Medal of Honor. General Miles called it "an insult to the memory of the dead," but his protest came to nothing.
During the award ceremony, Sergeant Toy was told that he was receiving the medal "for gallantry in fighting hostile Indians." In fact, he was rewarded for shooting in the back the fleeing Native Americans who were unarmed. Another soldier, Lieutenant Garlington, received a medal for preventing the victims from escaping. He forced them to hide in a ravine, where they were shot by Lieutenant Gresham.
Sergeant Loyd, one of those soldiers who was awarded the Medal of Honor for the massacre of unarmed Indians, committed suicide two years later - a few days before the anniversary of the massacre at Wounded Knee. It is not known what prompted him to take his own life. Perhaps it was conscience.
9. Great Fire of London – Townspeople Hanged a Mentally Retarded Man
Everyone who knew Robert Hubert considered him “not a very healthy man.” In all likelihood, he was mentally retarded or mentally ill. He couldn't utter a word English language, and his limbs were paralyzed. But despite all this, he was blamed for the Great Fire of London in 1666 and hanged.
Hubert was out of town when the fire happened. He appeared two days later. The man wandered the streets, constantly repeating the word “Yes!” In 1666, it didn't take much effort to prove a person's guilt. The crowd grabbed Hubert and dragged him to the police station.
There he answered everything that was asked of him with the word “Yes!” He even “confessed” that a Frenchman had paid him a shilling to set London on fire. Hubert agreed with every version, but he was hanged anyway.
Fifteen years later, the captain of the ship showed up and helped Hubert get to London. He told the townspeople that when the Great Fire happened, the poor fellow was not in the city. But by that time it was already too late.
10. “Titanic” – Bills issued to the families of the victims
The British shipping company White Star Line was very frugal. According to the contract, all employees who were on board the ship were fired the very second the Titanic began to sink. The company did not want to pay crew members money for not performing their immediate duties while the ship was sinking.
After the Titanic sank, the families of the victims were informed that they would have to pay the cost of freight if they wanted to recover the bodies of their loved ones. Most of them could not afford this, which is why today many of those who died in the tragedy have memorials instead of graves.
For musicians, things were even worse. The orchestra members, who desperately continued to play even as the ship sank, were registered as independent contractors. This meant that the White Star Line legally had nothing to do with them. The families of other crew members received compensation for the loss of their breadwinners, but the relatives of the dead musicians were not paid a penny. But they were billed for “damaged uniforms.”
Disasters often occur due to an absurd coincidence of events and lead to irreparable consequences. Lately Environmental disasters occur most frequently, leaving huge scars on the body of our planet. We have prepared a selection of the most major disasters, which cost humanity record amounts. So, here are the 10 largest and most expensive man-made disasters, most of of which occurred during the last century
In first place is the most global man-made environmental disaster - the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This disaster cost the world $200 billion, despite the fact that the liquidation work is not even half completed. April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in former USSR The worst nuclear accident in history occurred. More than 135,000 people living within a 30-kilometer (19-mile) radius of the destroyed reactor - and 35,000 head of livestock - were evacuated; An exclusion zone of unprecedented size was created around the station, located near the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. In this forbidden territory, nature had to cope with itself. high level radiation caused by the disaster. As a result, the exclusion zone essentially turned into a giant laboratory where an experiment was carried out - what happens to plants and animals in conditions of catastrophic nuclear contamination of the area? Immediately after the disaster, when everyone was worried about the dire consequences of radioactive fallout on human health, few thought about what would happen to wildlife inside the zone - and even more so about monitoring what is happening.
The Chernobyl disaster will long remain the largest and most costly environmental disaster. In second place is the explosion of the American space shuttle Columbia, which cost $13 billion, which is 20 times less in cost and millions of times less in terms of environmental impact. 
Shuttle Columbia was the first operational reusable orbiter. It was manufactured in 1979 and transferred to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle Columbia was named after the sailing ship on which Captain Robert Gray explored in May 1792 inland waters British Columbia. The space shuttle Columbia died in a disaster on February 1, 2003, upon entering the Earth's atmosphere before landing. This was Columbia's 28th space voyage. Information from hard drive Columbia was able to recover, the causes of the crash were identified, which made it possible to avoid such disasters in the future. 
In third place is again an environmental disaster. On November 13, 2002, the Prestige oil tanker exploded, spilling 77,000 tons of fuel into the ocean, causing the largest oil spill in European history. Losses during the work to eliminate the oil spill amounted to $12 billion. 
Fourth place - the death of the Challenger shuttle. Nothing foreshadowed a tragedy during the launch of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986, but 73 seconds after launch it exploded. This accident cost American taxpayers $5.5 billion. 
In fifth place is the explosion on oil platform Piper Alpha - occurred on July 6, 1988, which is recognized as the most terrible disaster throughout the history of the oil industry. The accident cost $3.4 billion. 
Piper Alpha is the only oil production platform in the world that burned down. As a result of a gas leak and subsequent explosion, as well as as a result of ill-conceived and indecisive actions of personnel, 167 people out of 226 on the platform at that moment were killed, only 59 survived. Immediately after the explosion, oil and gas production on the platform was stopped, however, due to the fact that the platform’s pipelines were connected to a common network through which hydrocarbons flowed from other platforms, and on those, the production and supply of oil and gas to the pipeline for a long time did not dare to stop (were waiting for permission from the company’s top management) great amount hydrocarbons continued to flow through the pipelines, which fueled the fire. 
Ecology is again in sixth place. The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred on March 24, 1989. This is the largest oil spill in human history. More than 11 million gallons of oil got into the water. To eliminate the consequences of this environmental disaster$2.5 billion was spent. 
Seventh place - the explosion of the B-2 stealth bomber. The disaster occurred on February 23, 2008, and cost US taxpayers one and a half million dollars. Fortunately, no one was injured, only financial costs ensued. 
Eighth place - Metrolink passenger train crash. The train collision that occurred on September 12, 2008 in California was attributed more to negligence. Two trains collide, 25 killed, MetroLink loses $500 million 
In ninth place, a collision between a fuel tanker and a passenger car occurred on August 26, 2004 on the Wiehltal bridge in Germany. This disaster, which occurred on August 26, 2004, can be classified as a road accident. They happen often, but this one surpassed them all in scale. A car driving across the bridge at full speed crashed into a full fuel tanker traveling towards it, causing an explosion that practically destroyed the bridge. By the way, $358 million was spent on restoration work on the bridge. 
The sinking of the Titanic closes the top ten most expensive disasters. The tragedy occurred on April 15, 1912 and claimed 1,523 human lives. The cost of building the ship amounted to $7 million (in terms of today's exchange rate - $150 million).
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