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Beirut, Lebanon -

On August 4, 2020, a massive blast rocked Beirut, the supposed result of thousands of tons of unsecured highly explosive material going off in a nearby warehouse.

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Beirut, Lebanon -

Some 204 people were killed and more than 6,500 were injured following the shock wave that seriously damaged buildings up to 6 mi (10 km) away.

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Deepwater Horizon oil spill, USA - The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico caused the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry to date.

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Chernobyl disaster, Ukraine - The most disastrous nuclear power plant accident in history occurred on April 25–26, 1986, near the now-abandoned town of Pripyat, north of Kiev, in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

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Bhopal disaster, India - This is currently regarded as the world's worst industrial disaster. On the night of December 2–3, 1984, highly toxic gas leaked from a three-flanged stainless steel tank (lower left foreground in photo) at Union Carbide's Bhopal factory in Madhya Pradesh, killing over 2,200 individuals immediately. It's estimated that 15,000-20,000 later died from the lingering effects of the poison.

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The Halifax Explosion, Canada - On the morning of December 6, 1917, the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, blew up after a collision with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo. The cataclysmic explosion devastated the Richmond district of Halifax, Nova Scotia, leaving 2,000 dead. The photo shows a view across the devastation of Halifax two days after the blast.

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The T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion, USA - A huge explosion on October 4, 1918, at a World War I ammunition plant at Sayreville, New Jersey, killed approximately 100 people. Over the next three days further blasts forced the evacuation and eventual reconstruction of the town.

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Port Chicago disaster, USA - Over 300 sailors and civilians lost their lives after a devastating munitions explosion at Port Chicago, California, on July 17, 1944. Of the 320 dead, only 51 could be identified.

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Evangelos Florakis Naval Base explosion, Cyprus -

The self-detonation of a munitions dump stored outdoors for over two years at the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base near the village of Zygi killed 13, including the base commander and six firefighters. The deadly event took place on July 11, 2011.

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SS Torrey Canyon oil spill, UK - After running aground on a reef off the south-west coast of England on March 18, 1967, the supertanker SS Torrey Canyon leaked an estimated 94–164 million liters (25–36 million gallons) of crude oil into the ocean, with disastrous environmental consequences. The wreck was eventually bombed to ignite the widening slick.

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Three Mile Island accident, USA - A faulty valve allowed a dangerously high amount of nuclear reactor coolant to escape, prompting primary coolant system depressurization and partial core disintegration. Pictured is a clean-up crew working to remove radioactive contamination at the facility after the March 28, 1979 accident.

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Ixtoc I oil spill, Mexico - One of the largest oil spills in history occurred in the Bay of Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico after the Ixtoc I exploratory oil well suffered a blowout on June 3, 1979.

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Texas City Refinery explosion, USA - Fifteen workers were killed on March 23, 2005, when the third-largest oil refinery in the US was severely damaged by a violent explosion caused by the ignition of a hydrocarbon vapor cloud.

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Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Japan -

Following an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma suffered a core meltdown. Several explosions released radioactive material within the facility. The plant remains disabled.

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Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, Canada -

Rolling out of control down a hill, a freight train carrying crude oil derailed as it sped into the Quebec town of Lac-Mégantic on July 6, 2013. A massive explosion killed 47 and destroyed half the downtown area.

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Great Molasses Flood, USA - One of the most bizarre industrial accidents ever occurred in Boston on January 15, 1919, when a huge molasses storage tank burst and sent a tidal wave of the sweet viscous liquid through the streets at 56 km/h (35 mph), swallowing up 21 hapless souls along the way.

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Amoco Cadiz oil spill, France - After running aground and breaking its back on the Portsall Rocks off the coast of Brittany, France on March 16, 1978, the giant supertanker leaked her entire cargo of crude oil into the sea.

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Enschede firework disaster, Netherlands -

What started out as an apparently under-control blaze at a fireworks warehouse in the Dutch city of Enschede on May 13, 2000, ended in a catastrophic explosion that killed 23 people, injured 1,000 more, and destroyed an entire neighborhood.

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Savar building collapse, Bangladesh -

Structural failure was blamed as the cause of the collapse on April 24, 2013, of Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building in Dhaka, that resulted in the death of 1,134 people. Over 2,000 more were pulled alive from the rubble.

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Courrières mine disaster, France - Europe's worst mining accident took place near the town of Lens on March 10, 1906, when a massive coaldust explosion claimed the lives of 1,099 miners. Pictured is a member of the rescue party equipped with Guglielminetti-Drager breathing apparatus.

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Centralia, USA -

An underground fire in a mine that runs under Centralia in Pennsylvania has been burning since 1962, a blaze that led to the condemnation and eventual abandonment of the entire town. Pictured is fire smoke escaping through a tear in one of the town's roads.

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Aberfan disaster, Wales - On the morning of October 21, 1966, a huge mountain of spoil (coal slurry) collapsed and engulfed a school in the mining village of Aberfan, killing 116 children and 28 adults. The tragedy shocked the United Kingdom and led to new legislation being drawn up governing mine and quarry spoil tips.

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Exxon Valdez oil spill, USA - Wildlife in its tens of thousands died as a direct result of the enormous oil spill that occurred after the Exxon Valdez supertanker struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef in Alaska on March 24, 1989.

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Sandoz chemical spill, Switzerland -

On November 1, 1986, a fire at the Sandoz agrochemical storehouse sent a toxic cloud into the air and released pollutants into the Rhine River, turning it red. The cocktail of chemicals devastated local wildlife downstream.

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Ajka alumina plant accident, Hungary -

Ten people died and many more were injured when a toxic river of red mud flooded local communities after a dam holding caustic liquid waste materials burst on October 4, 2010.

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RAF Fauld explosion, England - Two huge explosions took place on November 27, 1944, when an underground munitions storage depot blew up, killing at least 70 Royal Air Force personnel. Pictured is an aerial view of the crater and damage to the surrounding area caused by the blast. The crater is still visible today.

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Flixborough disaster, England - Twenty-eight people lost their lives when an explosion ripped through the Nypro gas and chemical plant at Flixborough, Lincolnshire on June 1, 1974. The disaster prompted a national public outcry over industrial plant safety standards.

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San Bruno pipeline explosion, USA -

A wall of fire engulfed an entire neighborhood in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno after a natural gas pipeline exploded into flames on September 9, 2010. Initial media reports speculated that a crashed jetliner was the cause. In total, eight people perished in the flames.

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Warsaw gas explosion, Poland - A gas explosion, rather than a bomb as originally suggested, destroyed the PKO Bank Polki's Rotunda office on February 15, 1979. The force of the blast killed 49 people.

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PEPCON disaster, USA -

Incredibly, only two fatalities were recorded after the cataclysmic explosions that pulverized the PEPCON chemical plant at Henderson, Nevada on May 4, 1988. The now infamous final blast—equivalent to about one kiloton of TNT, approximately the same yield of a tactical nuclear.

See also: The deadliest passenger plane crashes ever

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