The history of mankind is filled with many tragic and costly accidents but which ones were the worst ones? Here is a list of some of the most tragic accidents documented in history:
The Chernobyl Disaster
Back in 1986 an accident happened which would result in an estimated cost of $200 thousand million. According to some people it is the most expensive accident in history, although we will see plenty of other contenders later on. Half the land in the Ukraine was contaminated and close to 2 million people were directly or indirectly affected by the disaster, so this ws one of the most tragic accidents that happened in recent history..
The Challenger Tragedy

The cost of the space shuttle Challenger’s explosion has been estimated in today’s money at $5.5 billion. The craft survived only 73 seconds after takeoff. This also happened in 1986, just a few months before the Chernobyl disaster and is another contender for most expensive accident in history.
The Mecca Stampede
The pilgrimage of millions of followers of Islam to Mecca has led to many disasters over the years. In 1990 one of the worst in recent history happened when over 1,400 pilgrims died during a stampede in a pedestrian tunnel.
The Columbia Incident
The space shuttle Columbia was completely destroyed when it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere in 2003. The total cost of the incident is said to come to $13 billion, including the most expensive aircraft investigation ever undertaken.
The Titanic Disaster
You might have heard of a ship called the Titanic that sunk a while back. The cost of the vessel has been put at $150 million in today’s money. The disaster also cost around 1,500 lives as well as causing us to suffer from that film and Celine Dion’s warbling.
The Piper Alpha Fire
The Piper Alpha Oil rig was once the biggest producer of oil in the world, with 317,000 barrels coming off it every day. Then, one day in 1988, technicians forgot to put back a safety valve after carrying out maintenance checks. The result was a huge fire that killed 167 people and cost $3.4 billion.
The USS Indianapolis Sinking
Just before the end of WWII the USS Indianapolis went down after being hit by a torpedo. Many of the 1,196 sailors on board floated on the water for days afterwards, as sharks picked them off one by one. The reason it is classed as a tragic accident in some quarters is that their many messages asking for help were ignored because the operators who received the calls thought it was a trap.
The Metrolink Crash
25 people died in 2008 when a Metrolink train crashed in California. The most common theory for the crash is that the train engineer when through a red light because he was writing text messages. It has been estimated that the claims against the firm could run up to some $500 million.
The Tenerife Accident
In 1977 two planes collided on the Spanish island of Tenerife and 583 people died. The cause is said to have been one of the pilots taking off without permission during heavy fog. It remains to this day the deadliest accident in the history of aviation.
The B-52 Crash
The Andersen Air Force base in Guam saw a costly accident in 2008. A B-2 stealth bomber worth $1.4 billion was totalled when it crashed on the runway. Both pilots survived but it is classed as the most expensive accident in aviation history.
