12 of the world's worst architectural disasters

An architect is a responsible and difficult job, but everyone tends to make mistakes. Miscalculations in construction can sometimes result in terrible tragedies, the price of which is a lot of lives lost. We present to you a dozen of the most catastrophic cases of collapse of various buildings in recent centuries that have occurred outside of Russia.

The 5-year-old building could not withstand the weight of a thick layer of snow formed on the roof as a result of a blizzard that did not stop for a couple of days. At the time of the collapse, the cinema was full of people, 98 people were killed.

On May 2, 1845, hundreds of children and their parents came to see the performance of a clown floating down the river in a barrel pulled by a goose. They all gathered at Yarmouth Bridge. As soon as the crowd of people abruptly moved to the other side of the bridge to watch the clown swim under it, the structure could not stand, the chains broke, and the platform overturned.

After standing for 7 years, the factory building suddenly collapsed, killing 145 people. It turned out that during the construction cheap steel columns were used, which could not stand on the day of the tragedy.

In fact, the dam had been in need of repair for a long time, and its breakthrough was only a matter of time. 20 million tons of water escaped and headed towards Johnstown, killing 2209 people as a result.

The 987-meter bridge in Quebec is considered the longest cantilever bridge in the world, and it collapsed twice during its existence. 75 people were killed the first time, and 13 the second time.

Only a couple of months have passed since the completion of construction, when a gas leak occurred in the tower. As a result of the explosion, one load-bearing wall collapsed. Four people were killed.

The highlight of this building was the use of blue reflective glass. However, as practice has shown, this was far from the best solution. The double-glazed windows could not withstand the load and, under the pressure of the wind, broke down by dozens and crumbled on the pavement. In particularly windy weather, the police had to block the passages to the building in order to avoid injuring passers-by. After 5 years, all 10,344 windows were still replaced.

Collapse of a department store in Seoul before the September 11 terrorist attack was considered the most catastrophic. 502 people died that day.

The designers calculated the load poorly, as a result of which the structure could not withstand the weight of the crowd of dancing guests at the wedding. Then 23 people were killed and 380 were injured. It was the largest "household disaster" in the history of Israel.

The complex consisted of eleven 13-storey buildings, but in June 2009 one of them suddenly collapsed.

As soon as people noticed that cracks were creeping along the walls of the 8-storey building, an immediate evacuation began. However, people from the upper floors did not have time to leave the building before its collapse. 1,127 people were killed in the crash.

In fact, the dam had been in need of repair for a long time, and its breakthrough was only a matter of time. 20 million tons of water escaped and headed towards Johnstown, killing 2209 people as a result.

The cause of the break of the Titon River dam was a construction error, which led to the death of 11 people and injuries to 13 thousand people.

The complex consisted of eleven 13-storey buildings, but in June 2009 one of them suddenly collapsed.