The Worst Disasters in History

In this video, we’re going to go over three more of the worst disasters in history. The final story has one of the brutal incidents I've ever come across, not because the scale of the disaster but because of the horrific circumstances the people endured. So, as a warning although the events in this video are fleeting and non-descriptive, the events are still highly disturbing, so viewer discretion is strongly advised

As per YouTube's new AI disclosure policy, you may see a box pop up that says "Altered or synthetic content". To give specifics on how it's used on this channel, we use it to generate some scenes where real and stock images are not available, as well as some of the AI tools in various programs to speed workflow. Otherwise, all scripts, voiceovers, video editing, etc. is done by humans.

Attributions/Special Thanks for Photographs:
Wellcome Images, Auckland Museum

This video contains light dramatic reenactment but no actual footage or pictures of anyone being harmed or who has been harmed. The thumbnail is NOT a real image.

Writing and research by Jay Adams

And a huge thank you to the Scary Interesting team of writers, editors, captioners, and everyone else who make this channel possible.

[bunnyluver]

Imagine waking up, you and others feel a burning on your skin, there's a fog surrounding you, you see ppl jumping in a puddle of what looks like water and they start melting... Jesus you would think you woke up in hell.

[_E_Blondie]

Getting melted by acid in a desperate attempt to get if off of you is such a horrible way to go

[tyrannosaurusimperator]

9:58 it is mandatory that the Tacoma Narrows bridge be mentioned at least weekly in any and all engineering courses.

[pistolen]

Melting alive in a pool of acid, that gives me shivers down my spine!

[silrana]

If anyone thinks the last story was exaggerating anything, I can say from experience that nitric acid is very bad stuff. Hydrochloric, sulphuric... Wimps compared to nitric.
Back when I worked in a lab, I got a tiny droplet of nitric acid on my skin. Even though the spot was smaller than the head of a pin and was immediately flushed with water, it was the worst burn I've ever had. It left a yellow mark on my skin that ached for weeks.

[F_Print]

Jesus that acid story. Point taken, if I'm ever in an accident involving a chemical tanker, you'll find me 10 miles from the wreck still running for my life.

[heidetermeg]

That last story was just brutal and hard to listen to. That's got to be one of the most tragic encounters with fate I've ever learned about. Damn. They didn't deserve that... Rest in peace, good people.

[Waddlington]

thats gotta be one of the most insane traumatic things to witness, over 20 people just disintegrating into silence on the side of the road with no warning at all or thought of what was about to happen.

[speleokeir]

That last story was horrific. I can't think of many worse ways to go.

[JoyBroyles-edot]

That storm happened before hazard lights were invented. I got in trouble once for not turning mine one. The old cop explained to the “young whipper-snapper “ policemen that my car was too old to have them.

[serendipity_hunter]

There’s a story that the safety manager always talks about to the new machine operators at my job.

A man driving a forklift was lifting his forks to pick up a P61. ( 300 gallon IBC tote. ) he was going to fast and pierced the tote. Instead of jumping off and pulling the spill alarm he quickly back out of the tote. Spraying its contents all over him.
My boss told me all they heard besides the banging was someone letting out a quick yell. When turning the corner the mains clothes were designating right off his body. The man was completely silent. Suffering from shock from the abrupt pain. The In-house first aid squad got to him and attempted to decontaminate him and stabilize him til he can be airlifted to the hospital.

They said his skin was melting right off his body onto the floor. 3of the 5 first aid team needed therapy for PTSD after witnessing the injuries of the man. Different types of acid are no joke people. There’s a reason OSHA regulations are written in blood.

[flowerfaerie]

Love how that last one literally says "fortunately, the collision was extremely minor" and then goes on to explain how this was as far from fortunate as physically possible.

[heather]

Idk why but this set of tragedies hit me harder than most of the others covered on your channel. Your research and the scripting are, as always, top notch.

[thomasroot]

At my old job one of my coworkers came to me once and held out his forearm telling me he got splashed with 93% sulfuric acid, I could see the burn mark. He said it was still burning so I and asked him if he used soap when he had washed it off and he told me he just wiped it off because he was afraid that the water would react with the acid even further. I jumped up and dragged him to the nearest sink as I explained to him that the water will help wash away the acid that is reacting with his skin! Washed him up and directed him to the safety supervisor to tell him what happened and to get some chemical burn cream from him and fill out an incident report.

I really liked the kid, wish someone had made it clear to him when he was being trained how to react properly to situations like that.

[AntsPlayChess]

To wake up to mist, thinking your vehicle was on fire, it was dark, you feel intense pain, then you try to escape, only to intensify the pain, you try to wash it off with water only to start melting. What the hell.

[seniorxj]

If you see hundreds of birds of different species flying all in the same direction, get in your vehicle and follow them!!! 💯

[BriWolf]

The reason asylums suddenly found themselves flooded with patients is in large part due to the government's involvement. Asylum's were forced to start taking in homeless and mentally unwell criminals, and the government didn't provide enough money to properly care for the patients leading to poorer conditions and financial issues that then greatly affected the staff as their jobs got more stressful and their pay decreased. It was once quite a popular and lucrative job for nurses to work in asylum's as the places initially catered to the wealthy as one needed to be able to afford sending their relative to what was practically a vacation home for the rest of their life. Asylum's were initially meant to be quite nice and relaxing for the patient. The Victorian era actually started with a much better understanding of psychology and mental health than it ended with, due to sadistic, greedy doctor's who cared more about their prestige than they did about people's lives. It wasn't perfect but it was better than the abuse that time is known for today. The decline in Asylum quality is closely tied to this.

[kevincoates]

This is one of the most captivating channels on YouTube
Thanks for all you do for us

[GeneralTV]

Thanks for leaving an ad for the end of the video. I watched it fully as a form of appreciation.

[t.hjberg]

I had to take a month off work for an illness and came across this channel trying to get my mind off of everything, and have since watched/listened to every single one of your videos! I'm not even much of a YouTube guy but this channel is a full 10/10. Your tone, the amount of information you choose to include (or exclude in some cases) and the structure of the videos keeps everything fresh and engaging. Side note, this channel somehow got me really interested in caving again and I'm flying out to Arizona (from Canada) to do some cave exploring in a few short weeks. My first caving adventure was underneath the famous suicide forest in Japan but the rain cut it short, so I was in and out in a matter of minutes. It bummed me out but in some weird way hearing all these disaster stories has comforted me in my decision to play it extra safe that day, and I want to do some more exploring.