10 People Responsible for Major Disasters
advertisement
VOICE OVER: Tom Aglio
WRITTEN BY: Jordy McKen
Dive into the dark stories of individuals and groups who played pivotal roles in some of history's most devastating disasters. From environmental catastrophes to human-made tragedies, we explore the people behind events that changed the course of history and caused immense suffering. Our countdown includes shocking stories like the El Dorado Fire, the Germanwings Crash, the Great Leap Forward, and the Trail of Tears, revealing the human decisions that led to massive destruction and loss of life. Share your thoughts in the comments.
10 People Responsible for Major Disasters
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re taking a closer look at people (and groups) throughout history who were responsible for (or exacerbated) major disasters around the world, leading to fatalities and environmental catastrophes.
What was meant to be a celebration erupted into a mass wildfire. In 2020, Angela Renee Jimenez and Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. released a smoke device for a gender reveal party at the El Dorado Ranch Park in California. However, the stunt caused the surrounding dry grass to ignite, during a week of already scorching temperatures. A fire took hold, and it wreaked havoc for 71 days, causing more than $42 million in damage. One firefighter sadly lost their life as they combated the blaze. In 2024, Refugio pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to 1 year in jail, followed by 2 years of probation. Angela pleaded guilty to other charges and received one year of probation. They were also ordered to pay nearly $1.8 million in restitution.
In 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 left Spain’s Barcelona–El Prat Airport for Germany’s Düsseldorf Airport. However, shortly into the journey, the plane rapidly descended, as attempts by air traffic control to contact the pilots were unsuccessful. The flight crashed near the commune of Prads-Haute-Bléone in the French Alps. There were no survivors of the 150 people onboard. Investigators soon discovered that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, was responsible. Lubitz had locked himself alone in the cockpit, and deliberately crashed the plane. It was found that a doctor had written Lubitz off work for his mental health, shortly before the disaster. However, Lubitz didn’t tell his employers, and German law had banned the doctor from independently informing them.
After extremely heavy rainfall and storms, in April 1993, a massive flood began in the Midwestern United States when multiple rivers overflowed. Lasting until October, 50 people lost their lives to the water… and there was up to $16 billion worth of damage (around $30 billion in today’s money). One of the states affected was Illinois. But, if it wasn’t for the actions of James Scott, it might not’ve been quite as bad as what ultimately happened. Living in the city of Quincy, Scott was found to have deliberately removed sandbags meant to contain the flood, breaking a vital levee by doing so. He was found to have done it because he wanted to strand his wife far away from home, so that he could party without her, and conduct affairs. In 1994, after trial, Scott was sentenced to life in prison. In 1998, his conviction was reinstated.
In May 1889, the South Fork Dam on Lake Conemaugh[d] in Pennsylvania collapsed, flooding around 3.8 billion gallons of water into nearby Johnstown and the surrounding area. The devastation was massive as more than 2,200 people lost their lives. There was $17 million worth of damage, equivalent to around $583 million today. The dam was owned by (and was supposed to be maintained by) the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club - which had several influential industrialist members, including Andrew Carnegie. However, subsequent investigations found that the club had neglected it, had made poor alterations, and had ignored warnings from residents who noticed issues. No one in the club was ever held legally responsible, but it is generally thought that a better kept dam might have held back the catastrophe.
Back in 1943, Bengal, across parts of India and Bangladesh, was under the rule of Great Britain. In the years before ‘43, an intense drought had led to mass crop failures all over the region. This, plus other natural disasters and the ongoing Second World War, combined to inflict a deadly famine. It’s believed that up to 3.8 million people died from starvation, malnutrition, and other related issues. Winston Churchill, the then-Prime Minister of Britain, is widely condemned for his role in how the disaster unfolded. When asked to divert food resources to Bengal, he refused. And he reportedly (repeatedly) argued that the citizens of Bengal were to blame for the famine they were facing. In 2019, researchers concluded that Churchill’s refusal to help was a major factor in the devastation. And history remembers the wartime leader’s prejudice and racism as being a major contributor to the decisions he took.
In 1666, for 4 September days, London, England was ablaze. With the city’s Lord Mayor, Thomas Bloodworth, hesitating over what to do, thousands of buildings were destroyed, with an estimated damage equivalent today to around £2.2 billion (or $2.7 billion). Regarding fatalities, few are recorded officially. But there are estimates that it might’ve been in the hundreds, possibly thousands. At the time, there was conflict and diplomatic tension between England and France… and one Robert Hubert, who was originally from France, was blamed for the fire and was executed. However, he was likely a scapegoat and, although he confessed, his confession was inconsistent and he wasn’t thought to be of sound mind. One of Hubert’s accusers was Thomas Farriner, who owned the bakery where the fire began. Today, many believe that Farriner was really to blame; that improper cleaning and a failure to ensure the fire was extinguished in his oven was what truly caused the tragedy.
Operated by Transocean to drill oil for BP, Deepwater Horizon was an offshore rig based off the Louisiana coast. In April 2010, a blowout, an uncontrolled release of gas or oil, sparked a massive explosion, followed by a raging fire. Eleven people lost their lives, and huge amounts of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, causing one of the world’s biggest ever environmental disasters. BP was heavily criticized for not only its leadership’s response after the event, but also for its procedures that contributed to the initial explosion. Engineers on the rig had reportedly told their safety concerns to higher-ups, only to be ignored. In 2014, a judge deemed BP had majority responsibility for what happened. In 2015, the company agreed to an estimated $19 billion settlement.
In 1930, while leading the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's rapid industrialization and collectivization of food and crops led to mass shortages throughout the empire. From 1932 until 1933, the famine struck in a particularly merciless way in Ukraine, becoming known as the Holodomor. According to historians, Stalin had (at the time) feared an independence movement in the country. And so, many believe he manipulated the already-harsh Soviet policies to specifically target Ukraine and make the famine worse. Villagers were blocked by Soviet officials from searching for supplies further afield, and threatened with the prospect of labor camps if they didn’t comply with the brutal collectivization drive. Up to 10 million people perished, according to the UN. In 2022, the European Parliament recognized the Holodomor as a genocide enacted by Stalin. Dozens of other countries have also made that distinction.
In 1958, to turn China from an agricultural society into an industrialized one, in order to take on the economies of capitalist nations, China’s leader Mao Zedong initiated the infamous Great Leap Forward campaign. However, it didn’t have a positive result. Instead, due to the sheer impossibility of what it demanded, it facilitated the Great Chinese Famine, resulting in the demise of up to 55 million people. Local officials had seen the devastating effect that Mao’s policies were having on communities. Yet, due to fear of repercussions from Mao, they said nothing, exaggerated crop production figures, and took (or withheld) food from the workers. The problem grew and grew until, in 1962, the Great Leap Forward was finally halted. The disaster forced Mao to give more responsibility to other leaders, such as then-President Liu Shaoqi and then-Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping. Ultimately, it’s remembered as one of the most disastrous chapters in modern human history.
After becoming the 7th President of the United States in 1929, Andrew Jackson soon got to work on the Indian Removal Act. At the time, several Southern States wanted the land that Native American tribes resided upon. Even more so when some areas were found to have gold. So, in 1930, Jackson narrowly got his act passed through Congress. This gave him the power to relocate Native tribes to west of the Mississippi river - including the Cherokee, Chickasaw[i], Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole Nations. Between 1830 and 1850, what history remembers as the Trail of Tears saw around 60,000 people displaced and entire cultures belittled and ransacked. Estimates are that, on the journey, more than 16,500 perished. Today, some view the Removal Act as genocide, others as ethnic cleansing.
reh-FOO-HEE-you man-WELL hee-MENNEZ junior https://youtu.be/42vZ52_3eec?si=8s_plLg8TRviecEe&t=18
[b]an-DRAY-ass LOO-bits https://youtu.be/2C6ZK67Fmlk?si=S4uAEiCGcffHni58&t=1
ell pratt https://forvo.com/search/El%20Prat/es/
prah-oat-blay-ON/OWN https://forvo.com/search/Prads-Haute-Bl%C3%A9one/
[c]john's town https://youtu.be/Zj2v5Akm1Bg?si=-W2obMY7g7peBg67&t=34
[d]conna-maw https://youtu.be/EiMLJUsAPsI?si=5H5iWRx9k7tYmIO0&t=1
[e]ben-GAUL https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Bengal
[f]FAIR-IN-ur https://youtu.be/JuTamHKt318?si=o4guTBrx3T_esf61&t=70
£ = pounds
roh-BARE oo-BARE (french) https://translate.google.ca/?sl=fr&tl=en&text=Robert%20Hubert&op=translate
[g]HOH-LUH-DUH-more / HOLA-DUH-more https://www.dictionary.com/browse/Holodomor
[h]mao zahdoong https://forvo.com/word/%E6%AF%9B%E6%B3%BD%E4%B8%9C/#hsn
lay-OH shao-CHEE https://youtu.be/i3ZAK0HO2vg?si=6lOFVmyJwRzhIFKn&t=43
PRE-meer (not pre-MEER) - the second pronunciation on the page https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premier
dung-shao-PING https://youtu.be/i3ZAK0HO2vg?si=9QQiw7uw7aOwODtY&t=62
[i]CHICKA-saw https://youtu.be/1Rtmtl6HuD8?si=9Ms7UU2D0AvwtKR5&t=57
CHOCK-taw https://youtu.be/ROzT9SNsFzw?si=VhwGiGpsNwPfDdoz&t=2
muss-COH-ghee https://youtu.be/VMmObGJjpSA?si=sHw15FgUIOzj_kB4&t=15
SEMMIN-oles https://youtu.be/67rLTlENejY?si=afH0WmgWGsI-wqxl&t=15
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re taking a closer look at people (and groups) throughout history who were responsible for (or exacerbated) major disasters around the world, leading to fatalities and environmental catastrophes.
The El Dorado Fire
Angela Renee Jimenez & Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr.[a]What was meant to be a celebration erupted into a mass wildfire. In 2020, Angela Renee Jimenez and Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. released a smoke device for a gender reveal party at the El Dorado Ranch Park in California. However, the stunt caused the surrounding dry grass to ignite, during a week of already scorching temperatures. A fire took hold, and it wreaked havoc for 71 days, causing more than $42 million in damage. One firefighter sadly lost their life as they combated the blaze. In 2024, Refugio pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to 1 year in jail, followed by 2 years of probation. Angela pleaded guilty to other charges and received one year of probation. They were also ordered to pay nearly $1.8 million in restitution.
The Crash of Germanwings Flight 9525
Andreas Lubitz[b]In 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 left Spain’s Barcelona–El Prat Airport for Germany’s Düsseldorf Airport. However, shortly into the journey, the plane rapidly descended, as attempts by air traffic control to contact the pilots were unsuccessful. The flight crashed near the commune of Prads-Haute-Bléone in the French Alps. There were no survivors of the 150 people onboard. Investigators soon discovered that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, was responsible. Lubitz had locked himself alone in the cockpit, and deliberately crashed the plane. It was found that a doctor had written Lubitz off work for his mental health, shortly before the disaster. However, Lubitz didn’t tell his employers, and German law had banned the doctor from independently informing them.
The Great Flood of 1993
James ScottAfter extremely heavy rainfall and storms, in April 1993, a massive flood began in the Midwestern United States when multiple rivers overflowed. Lasting until October, 50 people lost their lives to the water… and there was up to $16 billion worth of damage (around $30 billion in today’s money). One of the states affected was Illinois. But, if it wasn’t for the actions of James Scott, it might not’ve been quite as bad as what ultimately happened. Living in the city of Quincy, Scott was found to have deliberately removed sandbags meant to contain the flood, breaking a vital levee by doing so. He was found to have done it because he wanted to strand his wife far away from home, so that he could party without her, and conduct affairs. In 1994, after trial, Scott was sentenced to life in prison. In 1998, his conviction was reinstated.
The Johnstown[c] Flood
The South Fork Fishing & Hunting ClubIn May 1889, the South Fork Dam on Lake Conemaugh[d] in Pennsylvania collapsed, flooding around 3.8 billion gallons of water into nearby Johnstown and the surrounding area. The devastation was massive as more than 2,200 people lost their lives. There was $17 million worth of damage, equivalent to around $583 million today. The dam was owned by (and was supposed to be maintained by) the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club - which had several influential industrialist members, including Andrew Carnegie. However, subsequent investigations found that the club had neglected it, had made poor alterations, and had ignored warnings from residents who noticed issues. No one in the club was ever held legally responsible, but it is generally thought that a better kept dam might have held back the catastrophe.
The Bengal[e] Famine of 1943
Winston ChurchillBack in 1943, Bengal, across parts of India and Bangladesh, was under the rule of Great Britain. In the years before ‘43, an intense drought had led to mass crop failures all over the region. This, plus other natural disasters and the ongoing Second World War, combined to inflict a deadly famine. It’s believed that up to 3.8 million people died from starvation, malnutrition, and other related issues. Winston Churchill, the then-Prime Minister of Britain, is widely condemned for his role in how the disaster unfolded. When asked to divert food resources to Bengal, he refused. And he reportedly (repeatedly) argued that the citizens of Bengal were to blame for the famine they were facing. In 2019, researchers concluded that Churchill’s refusal to help was a major factor in the devastation. And history remembers the wartime leader’s prejudice and racism as being a major contributor to the decisions he took.
The Great Fire of London
Thomas Farriner[f]In 1666, for 4 September days, London, England was ablaze. With the city’s Lord Mayor, Thomas Bloodworth, hesitating over what to do, thousands of buildings were destroyed, with an estimated damage equivalent today to around £2.2 billion (or $2.7 billion). Regarding fatalities, few are recorded officially. But there are estimates that it might’ve been in the hundreds, possibly thousands. At the time, there was conflict and diplomatic tension between England and France… and one Robert Hubert, who was originally from France, was blamed for the fire and was executed. However, he was likely a scapegoat and, although he confessed, his confession was inconsistent and he wasn’t thought to be of sound mind. One of Hubert’s accusers was Thomas Farriner, who owned the bakery where the fire began. Today, many believe that Farriner was really to blame; that improper cleaning and a failure to ensure the fire was extinguished in his oven was what truly caused the tragedy.
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
BP Leadership TeamOperated by Transocean to drill oil for BP, Deepwater Horizon was an offshore rig based off the Louisiana coast. In April 2010, a blowout, an uncontrolled release of gas or oil, sparked a massive explosion, followed by a raging fire. Eleven people lost their lives, and huge amounts of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, causing one of the world’s biggest ever environmental disasters. BP was heavily criticized for not only its leadership’s response after the event, but also for its procedures that contributed to the initial explosion. Engineers on the rig had reportedly told their safety concerns to higher-ups, only to be ignored. In 2014, a judge deemed BP had majority responsibility for what happened. In 2015, the company agreed to an estimated $19 billion settlement.
Holodomor[g]
Joseph StalinIn 1930, while leading the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's rapid industrialization and collectivization of food and crops led to mass shortages throughout the empire. From 1932 until 1933, the famine struck in a particularly merciless way in Ukraine, becoming known as the Holodomor. According to historians, Stalin had (at the time) feared an independence movement in the country. And so, many believe he manipulated the already-harsh Soviet policies to specifically target Ukraine and make the famine worse. Villagers were blocked by Soviet officials from searching for supplies further afield, and threatened with the prospect of labor camps if they didn’t comply with the brutal collectivization drive. Up to 10 million people perished, according to the UN. In 2022, the European Parliament recognized the Holodomor as a genocide enacted by Stalin. Dozens of other countries have also made that distinction.
The Great Leap Forward
Mao Zedong[h]In 1958, to turn China from an agricultural society into an industrialized one, in order to take on the economies of capitalist nations, China’s leader Mao Zedong initiated the infamous Great Leap Forward campaign. However, it didn’t have a positive result. Instead, due to the sheer impossibility of what it demanded, it facilitated the Great Chinese Famine, resulting in the demise of up to 55 million people. Local officials had seen the devastating effect that Mao’s policies were having on communities. Yet, due to fear of repercussions from Mao, they said nothing, exaggerated crop production figures, and took (or withheld) food from the workers. The problem grew and grew until, in 1962, the Great Leap Forward was finally halted. The disaster forced Mao to give more responsibility to other leaders, such as then-President Liu Shaoqi and then-Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping. Ultimately, it’s remembered as one of the most disastrous chapters in modern human history.
The Trail of Tears
Andrew JacksonAfter becoming the 7th President of the United States in 1929, Andrew Jackson soon got to work on the Indian Removal Act. At the time, several Southern States wanted the land that Native American tribes resided upon. Even more so when some areas were found to have gold. So, in 1930, Jackson narrowly got his act passed through Congress. This gave him the power to relocate Native tribes to west of the Mississippi river - including the Cherokee, Chickasaw[i], Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole Nations. Between 1830 and 1850, what history remembers as the Trail of Tears saw around 60,000 people displaced and entire cultures belittled and ransacked. Estimates are that, on the journey, more than 16,500 perished. Today, some view the Removal Act as genocide, others as ethnic cleansing.
What’s your verdict on the role in disaster that these people (or groups) played?) Let us know in the comments.
[a]anja-LEE-nuh ruh-NAY hee-MENNEZ https://youtu.be/42vZ52_3eec?si=5rkTmbmrepFoqeAA&t=20reh-FOO-HEE-you man-WELL hee-MENNEZ junior https://youtu.be/42vZ52_3eec?si=8s_plLg8TRviecEe&t=18
[b]an-DRAY-ass LOO-bits https://youtu.be/2C6ZK67Fmlk?si=S4uAEiCGcffHni58&t=1
ell pratt https://forvo.com/search/El%20Prat/es/
prah-oat-blay-ON/OWN https://forvo.com/search/Prads-Haute-Bl%C3%A9one/
[c]john's town https://youtu.be/Zj2v5Akm1Bg?si=-W2obMY7g7peBg67&t=34
[d]conna-maw https://youtu.be/EiMLJUsAPsI?si=5H5iWRx9k7tYmIO0&t=1
[e]ben-GAUL https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Bengal
[f]FAIR-IN-ur https://youtu.be/JuTamHKt318?si=o4guTBrx3T_esf61&t=70
£ = pounds
roh-BARE oo-BARE (french) https://translate.google.ca/?sl=fr&tl=en&text=Robert%20Hubert&op=translate
[g]HOH-LUH-DUH-more / HOLA-DUH-more https://www.dictionary.com/browse/Holodomor
[h]mao zahdoong https://forvo.com/word/%E6%AF%9B%E6%B3%BD%E4%B8%9C/#hsn
lay-OH shao-CHEE https://youtu.be/i3ZAK0HO2vg?si=6lOFVmyJwRzhIFKn&t=43
PRE-meer (not pre-MEER) - the second pronunciation on the page https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premier
dung-shao-PING https://youtu.be/i3ZAK0HO2vg?si=9QQiw7uw7aOwODtY&t=62
[i]CHICKA-saw https://youtu.be/1Rtmtl6HuD8?si=9Ms7UU2D0AvwtKR5&t=57
CHOCK-taw https://youtu.be/ROzT9SNsFzw?si=VhwGiGpsNwPfDdoz&t=2
muss-COH-ghee https://youtu.be/VMmObGJjpSA?si=sHw15FgUIOzj_kB4&t=15
SEMMIN-oles https://youtu.be/67rLTlENejY?si=afH0WmgWGsI-wqxl&t=15
