10 amazing pictures taken a second before the tragedies

An ordinary photograph can be stored for many decades — it can be a photograph that will shake your faith in humanity, or a photograph that defines an entire epoch, which will then be said that "sometimes an image is worth a thousand words." But the photos below may just leave you speechless.

On August 15, 1998, a car exploded in the city of Omagh in Northern Ireland. The IRA (Irish Republican Army) rebel organization was behind this explosion, and it claimed the lives of 29 people, and 200 people were injured of varying severity. The explosion occurred during the "disagreements" that arose during the ethno-nationalist conflicts in Northern Ireland. These conflicts lasted for more than 30 years, and during the explosion in The largest number of people died there.

The camera used to take the photo presented here was recovered from the rubble of the building destroyed by the explosion. The man in this photo is standing in the middle of a quiet street and rejoicing. A second before the bomb exploded. This is one of the most poignant photos of all that were published after the explosion in Om. The serenity, the smiles on the faces of people unaware of the deadly threat - all this makes this picture simply heartbreaking. Before us is a moment frozen forever in time, preceding the mass slaughter of unsuspecting people.

Regina Kay Walters was a 14-year-old girl from Pasadena, Texas. She was the victim of serial killer Robert Ben Rhodes. She was one of his three proven victims (although Rhodes himself claims to have killed many more), and he decided to play with her one last time. Rhodes cut off her hair, put a dress on her and took a picture. The result is an image of a man in trouble, the one you see here. Rhodes was captured in September 1992, but before that he managed to kill two more people. He was sentenced to life in prison without the right to parole and to this day is in a Texas prison.

A photo of a young girl in the last moments of her life, changed, with her hair cut off, dressed in something incomprehensible and left alone with such a monster as Rhodes, is very hard to look at. The camera dispassionately showed the despair on this girl's face. He showed us a picture of disgusting torture: when the executioner plays with his victim like a cat with a mouse. This is a photo in which a permanently broken human psyche is recorded.

Reynaldo Dagsa was a Filipino politician who was killed in an armed attack during the celebration of the New year, 2011. The murder of this man has gained worldwide fame thanks to a photograph depicting the Dagsa family. At the moment when Dagsa was photographing the family, the killer, aiming directly at the politician, also came into view of the camera. This picture was later used by Dagsa's wife as evidence, thanks to him, two men were arrested almost immediately, because the police decided that they were directly related to the murder.

This photo seems fascinating, but it is also the embodiment of the utter absurdity: a 35-year-old man, at the very beginning of the new year, photographs his loving family and at the same time photographs his own death.

On June 8, 2014, 24 students from Hyderabad (India) died during a trip when a huge wave of water went upstream from the Largi hydroelectric power station located on the Bis River. Students studying Engineering at VNR VJIET Institute took an educational tour of Himachal Pradesh. They were traveling from Shimla to Manali when the bus stopped so that the students could get out and take some pictures on the banks of the Bis River. At that moment, the floodgates at the hydroelectric power station opened without any warning, and the flow of water caught a group of 24 students by surprise, literally sweeping them off the shore in an instant. It happened because of the criminal negligence of the station staff.

This photo was supposed to be just another picture taken for memory by one student during another tedious study trip, but instead the photo captures the last moment of the life of a whole group of young people.

The photo you see shows the last minutes of Ki's life Suk Khan, a 58-year-old father and husband. He was pushed under the train by a homeless man named Naim Davis, with whom Khan had argued about something shortly before. According to eyewitnesses, Khan was intoxicated due to a quarrel with his wife and tried to exchange something with Davis. Davis, in turn, explains his aggressive actions for several reasons at once: it could be drugs, voices in his head or even the loss of boots (according to him, they were very good boots).

Anyway, Davis claimed that Khan did not leave him alone and that he had to respond to the persecution by Khan accordingly. And although Davis constantly repeated his "not guilty", he was accused of premeditated murder. Regardless of the reasons that led to the death of Khan, this photo will forever remain a person looking into the face of his own death.

Robert Bud Dwyer was a politician representing the interests of Republicans from Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate. He has been doing this for more than 10 years. He later became the Pennsylvania State Treasurer. He worked there until the day of his death: January 22, 1987. One day Dwyer was accused of taking a bribe, and he called a press conference. He was supposed to announce his resignation there. If found guilty, he faced up to 55 years in prison and a fine of 300 thousand dollars. Years later, a former lawyer named William Smith confessed to lying under oath when he accused Dwyer of bribery.

The press conference was broadcast live throughout the state of Pennsylvania. After reading out part of his pre-prepared speech, Dwyer suddenly stopped reading and began handing out some envelopes to his employees. After handing over the last envelope, Dwyer took out a gun and said, "If this somehow hurts you, please leave the room." As his friends and colleagues later told him, he said this with a slight stutter, and then pulled the trigger. It happened before they could stop him, and he died right in the hall. If for some reason you want to see a video of Dwyer's suicide live, you can easily find it on YouTube.

You may have already seen this photo: 30-year-old Travis Alexander taking a shower. After that, he will be brutally murdered by his ex-girlfriend named Jodi Arias. When the murder occurred, this photo was broadcast on many news channels.

In 2008, friends found Travis dead at his home in Mesa, Arizona. He was found on the floor of his bathroom, his body had 27 stab wounds, 1 gunshot wound to the head, and his throat was cut. Arias initially denied any involvement in Travis' murder, stating that Travis was probably killed during the robbery. But she later changed her testimony and confessed to killing Travis in self-defense. At the moment, Jodi Arias is in prison and is awaiting a court verdict. The trial is scheduled to take place on September 8, 2014.

In February 1993, John Venables and Robert Thompson, both ten years old, killed two-year-old James Bulger, having previously abducted him from the building of the Strand shopping center in Liverpool (UK). The details of this murder caused a wave of panic throughout England, forcing parents to wonder what their children are capable of. A video taken by a video surveillance system showing James Bulger being led away by his killers has been broadcast on news channels for several months. And this was the last opportunity to look at a two-year-old child in his last hours.

Venables and Thompson lured Bulger away from his mother, and then walked with him 4 kilometers hand in hand along the railroad track, away from the mall. On the way, the children were stopped several times by passers-by, asking if they were lost and if they needed help. They also advised the children to take home their "younger brother", who could not stop crying.

James' body was found two days after his death, tied to rails on a railway line leading to Walton. His injuries were terrible, and after the coverage of this fact in Mass media in society there was a wave of indignation in connection with the leniency of the sentence against two juvenile offenders. Venables and Thompson had to stay in educational colonies for 8 years and receive psychiatric care until the age of 18. And then they were released. Their names were changed, and they received care and security guarantees from the government. After all, the government is constantly looking for the right people, isn't it?

On the day John Lennon died, the Earth stopped and wept. In cities around the world, distraught fans and musicians united and arranged a worldwide funeral for one person. It was the love that Lennon gave to people. It was a musical kinship. A month before his death, Lennon released Double Fantasy, a long-awaited album. It was his first solo album, which was the result of five years of work. And it also became his last album.

On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon at the entrance to The Dakota (the building where Lennon lived) in New York. Lennon was targeted by crazy Chapman because of his fame. And he was killed only because he was able to displace other potential victims on Chapman's list, such as Johnny Carson and George Scott. "If he was a little less well—known than the three or four people on my list, he wouldn't have been shot," Chapman told police.

This picture was taken about an hour before Lennon was killed. The quiet, humble fan waiting for Lennon's autograph in this picture is none other than Mark David Chapman. He was Lennon's killer, and he, unfortunately, was the last one who was able to take a picture with Lennon alive.

In 1975, Michael and Sean McQuilken were just two smiling guys on a family vacation in California. Along with their sister, Maria, they posed for a photo, with their hair standing on end. They posed and laughed at the strangeness of this situation. Other vacationers in the area did about the same thing. This photo was taken at the top of Moro Rock Mountain, in California's Sequoia National Park, and a few minutes later the brothers were struck by lightning, the impact of which turned out to be terrible, but, contrary to popular belief, did not kill anyone.

This photo has been shown countless times over the years. It served as a social advertisement in order to force people to comply with safety rules in a thunderstorm. A photo with happy, carefree brothers very eloquently hints at a huge danger to life: an average of 24 thousand people die every year from lightning strikes in the world. Probably for this reason, this photo is now shocking as much as before.