Urban Legends

Strange Deaths

MASS DEATHs

Over 1,700 people were killed almost instantly near Lake Nyos in Cameroon when a mass of approximately 100 million cubic meters of carbon dioxide that had collected at the bottom of the lake due to seepage from geothermal sources was suddenly released on August 21, 1986. The gas cloud immediately settled (carbon dioxide is heavier than air) and covered an area of up to 12 miles (20 km) from the lake, killing all oxygen-breathing life almost instantly - although the nearby vegetation, which consumes carbon dioxide and releases oxygen, flourished afterwards.

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TWILIGHT ZONE

The blades on the helicopter go round and round...

Veteran actor Vic Morrow was tragically killed on the set of the movie "The Twilight Zone: The Movie". A helicopter, caught off guard during a pyrotechnic explosion set off for the movie, lost control and crashed into the area where the actor was standing. The rotor blades caught the actor, before he could run, and decapitated him. The resulting explosion also killed two child actors which later had a dramatic impact of child labor laws and their impact on child actors.

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KILLER ORANGES

In 1911, Robbert Leach died a strange death. It had a strong flavor of irony as the man was considered by many to be a daredevil. He was, in fact, the second person to experience Niagra Falls from a barrel and amazingly, lived to tell about it. After the thrill of such an event, he went on to perform many death-defying acts.

Ironically, while strolling down the road, he slipped on an orange peel and badly broke his leg. Failing to heal properly, doctors amputated his leg some time later.

Mr. Leach would eventually die from the complications of that surgery.

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GAMING ADDICTION

Jeff Dailey, a 19-year-old gamer, became the first known person to die while playing video games. After achieving a score of 16,660 in the arcade game Berzerk, he succumbed to a massive heart attack. A year later, an 18-year-old gamer died after achieving high scores in the same game.

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KILLER HYDRANT

Humberto Hernandez, a 24-year-old Oakland, California resident, was killed while walking on a sidewalk after being struck in the face by an airborne fire hydrant; A passing car blew a tire and swerved onto the sidewalk, striking the fire hydrant. The force of the water pressure released so suddenly it propelled the 200-pound hydrant toward Hernandez with enough force to kill him.

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KILLER ROBOT

Kenji Urada, a Japanese factory worker was killed by a malfunctioning robot he was working on at a Kawasaki plant in Japan. The robot's arm pushed him into a grinding machine, killing him.

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SCUBA DEATHS

Tom and Eileen Lonergan were stranded while scuba diving with a group of divers off Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The group's boat accidentally abandoned them owing to an incorrect head count taken by the dive boat crew. Their bodies were never recovered. The incident inspired the film Open Water and an episode of 20/20.

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GARBAGE ANYONE

Two brothers, Homer and Langly Collyer were aparently suffering from Horder's disease, a compulsion that makes it difficult or impossible to throw anything away. The two obsessed over collecting everything from newspapers to the very garbage they generated. Fearing people would try to steal their "stuff", they even established a few traps around the house to kill any unsuspecting burglars.

After receiving a tip about a possible body, police entered the house. After having a lot of difficulty getting in, police found Homer Collyer dead. However, Langly, the brother was no where in sight. The following weeks produced 100 tons of garbage from the house. Through this process, they ultimately recovered Langley's body as well. It was partially decomposed and victim to feeding rats.

It was officially determined that Langly, who was providing care for Homer (who was determined to be paralyzed), apparently set off one of his own traps while bringing food for Homer. After dying, he was no longer able to provide food for the helpless Homer, who died of starvation.

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AORTA

Owen Hart, a Canadian-born professional wrestler for WWF, died during a pay-per-view event when performing a stunt. It was planned to have Owen come down from the rafters of the Kemper Arena on a safety harness tied to a rope to make his ring entrance. The safety latch was released and Owen dropped 78 feet (24 m), bouncing chest-first off the top rope resulting in a severed aorta, which caused his lungs to fill with blood.

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THE CROW

Actor Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, was shot and killed by Michael Massee using a prop .44 Magnum gun while filming the movie The Crow. A cartridge with only a primer and a bullet was fired in the pistol before the fatal scene; this caused a squib load, in which the primer provided enough force to push the bullet out of the cartridge and into the barrel of the revolver, where it became stuck. The malfunction went unnoticed by the crew, and the same gun was used again later to shoot the death scene. His death was not instantly recognized by the crew or other actors; they believed he was still acting.

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BAD POLITICS

Budd Dwyer, the State Treasurer of Pennsylvania, committed suicide during a televised press conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Facing a potential 55-year jail sentence for alleged involvement in a conspiracy, Dwyer shot himself in the mouth with a revolver.

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SEX CAN KILL YA

Sergey Tuganov, a 28-year-old Russian, bet two women that he could continuously have sex with them both for twelve hours. Several minutes after winning the $4,300 bet, he suffered a heart attack and died. It is believed that the heart attack was the result of Tuganov ingesting an entire bottle of Viagra just after he accepted the bet.

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FUSTRATION REALLY?

Daniel V. Jones committed suicide on a freeway carpool lane near Los Angeles, California by shooting himself through the chin with a shotgun, which was accidentally televised by journalists monitoring the incident on helicopters. Jones, a former hotel maintenance worker, had killed himself partly because of his frustration over treatment by his HMO.

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KILLER FETISH

Sharon Lopatka, an Internet entrepreneur from Maryland, allegedly solicited a man via the Internet to torture and kill her for the purpose of sexual gratification. Her killer, Robert Fredrick Glass, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for the homicide.

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So watch out and don't be stupid.