5. Moments Before Disaster
This photo was taken by a Spanish tourist on the 15th August 1998, moments before the car exploded. The red Vauxhall Cavalier contained a bomb that killed 29 people and injured more than 220. The Omagh bombing as it became known, was carried out by the Real Irish Republican Party (RIRA), a splinter group of the IRA. The man and child seen in the picture managed to survive the horrific blast which claimed the life of the photographer whose camera was later discovered amongst the rubble.
It was alleged that the British, Irish and U.S intelligence agencies all had information that could have prevented the bombing but failed to pass on the intelligence to local police. Despite the immense devastation and vast amounts of intelligence no one was ever been convicted over the incident.
4. Lightning Strike
This photo of Michael and Sean McQuilken was taken at Moro Rock in California’s Sequoia National Park on August 20, 1975. The pic was taken by the sibling’s sister Mary just moments before they were struck by lightning.
“At the time, we thought this was humorous,” Michael McQuilken recalled. “I took a photo of Mary and Mary took a photo of Sean and me. I raised my right hand into the air and the ring I had on began to buzz so loudly that everyone could hear it.”
The temperature suddenly dropped and it started to hail so the teens headed back down the mountain. As they journeyed downward the bolt struck. “I found myself on the ground with the others,” Michael remembered. “Sean was collapsed and huddled on his knees. Smoke was pouring from his back.”
Sean was hit directly by the bolt which left him unconscious and suffering third degree burns. He managed to survive along with his siblings but another man was killed by the strike.
3. Lover’s Bridge Jump
This photo taken by a newspaper reporter in early 2013, inadvertently captured the moment a woman jumped to her death off the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge in central China. The photographer was taking pictures of the thick fog that was surrounding the bridge at the time and after witnessing a man jump into the icy waters below managed to snap this pic of a woman jumping moments later.
The man was later identified by belongings he left at the top of the bridge as 20 year old migrant worker Liu Han. The unidentified girl seen in the photo was believed to be his lover.
2. Fatal Eruption
This photo of the 1980 Mount St. Helens volcano eruption in Washington was taken by photographer Robert Landsburg. Landsburg was killed by the eruption but his body was not discovered until seventeen days after the blast. He was found buried in the ash with his backpack underneath him. Inside his bag was his camera on which this photo was discovered. Landsburg, who must have known he was in danger had the presence of mind to rewind the film back into its case and place the camera back in the backpack moments before he was engulfed by the rapidly approaching ash cloud.
1. Deadly Snake Bite
This photo posted on Reddit by user gwtrull seems normal enough at first glance. But if you look below the woman’s right hand you can see a startled snake lunging upwards, about to bite the woman on the arm. The Reddit user who claimed to be a friend of the family seen in the photo said that the woman made a full recovery however the dog, who was also bitten by the snake died shortly after.
