2002 Uberlingen mid-air collision - What Happened When Two Airplanes Collided At An Altitude Of 35,000 Feet

We keep hearing such news almost daily that one vehicle collided with another on the road, causing the deaths of so many people. But we have rarely heard such news in which an airplane crashed into another airplane, causing a lot of damage. Today we will introduce you to one such incident in which two airplanes actually collided with each other at an altitude of 35000 feet and about 71 people were killed in this accident. So let's know how all this happened.

Two Planes Collide In Mid-Air (Accident)

Date 1 July 2002, night time 8:10 minutes, a total of 60 passengers, including 45 schoolchildren, were waiting for the flight at Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport. These 45 Russian schoolchildren were from to the city of Ufa and were on a school trip organized by the local UNESCO committee to the Costa Dorada area of Spain. 38 minutes later at about 8:48 minutes, Flight 2937 (a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet) of Bashkirian Airlines with 60 passengers and nine crew members took off from Moscow, Russia, to Barcelona, Spain. The plane was ready to cover a distance of 3000 kilometers in 4 hours and 20 minutes. Around 11 pm the airplane entered the airspace in Switzerland. This airspace was being controlled by Skyguide, a private Swiss airspace control company. At 11 pm, Peter Nielsen was there in the control room with one of his companions as an air traffic controller. 1 July was a very busy day in terms of air traffic from morning to evening but after 11 pm at night, there was no landing schedule for any plane at any airport that existed in that entire airspace and the air traffic passing through that airspace was also reduced to a great extent. Therefore, Peter Nielsen's colleague gave responsibility for his workstation to Peter and went for a break. This was against the rules of Skyguide, but was a common practice over the years and was known and tolerated by management. That means, Peter was now handling the responsibility of two workstations simultaneously, where airspace traffic was being shown on the first radar system, and the planes landing at the airport on the second radar system were being monitored.

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On the other hand, at 11:06 pm, a DHL Flight 611 (a Boeing 757 cargo jet) departed from Bergamo, Italy, to Brussels, Belgium. At around 11:10, Peter Nielsen was informed that his main radar image processing system has been shut down for maintenance, so now he will have to use the fallback system. At 11:21 pm DHL Flight 611 entered Peter Nielsen's air space and the plane's pilot approached peter and asked for permission to fly at 36000 feet of altitude. Before giving permission, peter regulated the air traffic and started doing a normal calculation that there is no other plane on this altitude and the same route. But then a message from a delayed Aero Lloyd flight 1135 came on the second radar system that they have to land at a nearby airport, so peter had to switch from his ongoing task and moved to the second radar system. Peter tried to contact the nearby airport tower but his phone was unable to work due to the maintenance program at the workstation. Therefore, he returned to the first radar system because right now flight 1135 had ten minutes to land. After coming to the first radar system, peter approved DHL Flight 611's request for flying at an altitude of 36000 feet and then again tried to make contact with the nearby airport tower for the landing of flight 1135.

After being approved for high altitude, DHL Flight 611 has now raised its altitude to 36000 feet. On the other hand, Flight 2937, which was going to Barcelona, ​​was also flying at an altitude of 36000 feet, that is, two minutes before the accident, both planes were a few kilometers away from each other at the same altitude and were coming close to each other at a very high speed. The problem here was that the air route of both airplanes was crossing, that is, according to the speed with which both planes were flying, the two planes could collide with each other above Uberlingen, a southern German town on Lake Constance, near the Swiss border. About 45 seconds before the accident, the air traffic controller, Peter Nielsen, realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately contacted Flight 2937 and asked the pilot to perform the descend immediately. Peter instructed Russian pilots to immediately bring their plane's flight level to descend from 360 (11,000 meters (36,000 ft)) to 350. But after a second of this instruction, the flight traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) of Flight 2937 rang with the sound of the beep and instructed the pilots to immediately raise the altitude of the plane. At the same time, the TCAS of DHL Flight 611 also started warning the pilots with the sound of the beep and directed to descend the altitude of the flight immediately. Therefore, the pilots of DHL Flight 611 started descending the flight level as per TCAS instructions.

But on the other hand, the pilots of Flight 2937 became confused about whether to obey the instructions of the air traffic controller, Peter Nielsen or follow the instructions of TCAS. Then Peter Nielsen repeated his point again and instructed the Flight 2937 pilot to descend the flight level. Finally, the Russian pilots decided to obey the air traffic controller instructions and started to lower the altitude of the plane. It means, at this time both the planes were on the descend and were coming down very fast. But this decision was completely opposite to TCAS instruction of Flight 2937. Meanwhile, in the air traffic control room, when Peter Nielsen saw that Flight 2937 had followed his instructions and lowered the flight level, he became relaxed that everything had gone well. At this time Peter was unaware that DHL Flight 611 had also lowered its flight level because due to Peter's continued contact with Flight 2937, DHL Flight 611 pilots were unable to make contact with Peter, due to which they could not able to tell him, they too have lowered their flight level. At the same time, due to under maintenance of the main radar system, peter was using the fallback system, which did not have a necessary emergency feature Short-term conflict alert (STCA) which in case of such a situation, shows a visual alert on the radar display. Because of this, Peter Nielsen could not understand the real situation and started to contact flight 1135 that is going to land at the nearby airport.

About 19 seconds before Collision, Peter once again contacted Flight 2937 pilot and told him that DHL Flight 611 was coming from his right side, while DHL Flight 611 was actually coming from their left side. That is why when Flight 2937 pilots looked from their window to the right side, they did not see any plane coming anywhere. But eight seconds before the collision, when the crew of Flight 2937 suddenly looked to the left of their airplane, they saw DHL Flight 611 coming from the left side, and then the pilot immediately increased its plane's descent rate. But just two seconds before the collision, Flight 2937 pilots finally followed the TCAS instruction of the plane and attempted to put the aircraft into a climb. But it was impossible for the pilot to put the aircraft in a sudden climb in just two to three seconds that was steadily going down and that's why two seconds later at 23:35:32, at an altitude of 34,890 feet, DHL Flight 611 collided with Flight 2937 at almost a right angle, over Uberlingen, Germany. With DHL Flight 611's vertical stabilizer slicing completely through Flight 2937's fuselage just ahead of its wings, causing it to split into several pieces, and spreading debris over a wide area.

The front section of the plane directly hit the ground vertically, while the rear section spins in the air and fell on the ground after a few seconds. The collision was so terrible that all the 60 passengers (including 45 children) and 9 crew members of Flight 2937 were killed. On the other side, DHL Flight 611 was also severely damaged due to the collision. The vertical stabilizer of DHL Flight 611 was 80% broken, due to which the plane was uncontrolled in the air. After struggling for some time, DHL Flight crashed into a wooded area close to the village of Taisersdorf, 7 kilometers away from the accident location, causing the plane's tail section to ripped from the fuselage by trees just before impact. A total of 71 people died in this horrible accident, 69 people on Flight 2937, and the 2 on DHL Flight 611.

It could be said that if both airplane pilots followed those TCAS automated instructions rather than Air Traffic Controller Peter Nielsen's instructions, the collision would not have occurred. Aero Lloyd's Flight 1135 can also be considered another reason for this mid-air collision, forcing Peter Nielsen to switch continuously from Flight 1135 to Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611. But the biggest reason was that the other controller was on break during his duty and the maintenance work that was being carried out on the main radar image processing system forced peter to use a fallback system.

Peter Nielsen Death

But it was not the end, a year and a half after the accident, on 24 February 2004, Vitaly Kaloyev (a Russian citizen) stabbed and killed Peter Nielsen. Because he was devastated by the loss of his wife and two children aboard 2937 flight and blamed Peter Nielsen for their deaths.

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Matmata Underground Houses, Tunisia - The Uniquely Designed Houses In The Large Pits

We have talked many times about the beautiful cities that beautify the surface of the earth with their catchy appearance, but today we will talk about a city which is situated below the ground, where a wonderful world under the earth gets to see. People here are spending their lives by building homes under the ground for hundreds of years. This wonderful world is actually seen in the African country of Tunisia. Matmata lies in the arid valleys of southern Tunisia's Djebel Dahar region, which is inhabited below the ground, and people here still continue to live in the underground houses built hundreds of years ago.

Matmata is actually a small Berber speaking town and the underground houses where people live are known as troglodyte structures. This underground village is known as Tijma. Not only do people live in 100-year-old houses, but they have also acquired common facilities of life. However, most of the people living here are the ones whose land is around here and they have to cultivate here. Apart from this, many people have left this area and moved to urban areas. But those who live here in homes under the ground say that they love their land and culture, so they do not want to leave this area. Tourists also like to visit this area during the holidays. The world of this region is unique, two-storey houses are also built below the ground. People have also installed modern gates to their houses and the walls of the houses are painted with white color and there is also a coating of clay on walls. Along with the doors of the houses, various ventilating windows have also been provided. People have collected all the comforts of life in the houses, in addition to the modern bed, TV is also there.

See Also:-Coober Pedy - An Underground Town

When you stand outside and look at it, this place looks like a world made in a large pit in the ground. But now the question arises that why in the present times, people had to build such houses under the ground. What is the secret behind these houses and why people were forced to build these underground houses? Actually, the purpose of constructing these houses below the ground was to get rid of the hot winds running in this area. Most of the houses built here are made of clay, which remains cold even in the scorching heat. Apart from this, the houses are designed in such a way that there should always remain a facility for fresh air to come in. People living here always feel relieved at this place.

In Tunisia, there is severe heat and in such situations, these houses under the ground are helpful to protect people from the heat. Looking at this place of Tunisia, it can be said that in today's times this place is not less than a beautiful world under the Earth. Some locals remained here are working in their olive farms, however, Matmata has now become a popular tourist attraction and the majority of the population depends on tourism and folklore exhibitions in their homes.

See Also:-Pendleton Underground Tunnels - Darkness in the Underworld

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Salvador Alvarenga - A man who survived after spending 438 days in the Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest water mass on the planet, covering one-third of the total surface of the earth, that is, even if you combine all the lands of the earth together, the pacific ocean will still be larger than Earth's combined land area. Now think for a moment that if you are left alone for only one day in the midst of this deserted ocean where there is only and only water for thousands of km everywhere, where there are so many unknown dangers waiting for you every moment. So what would you feel like in such a situation and what would be your state of mind during this tough situation? 99 percent of us will probably give up thinking that it is impossible to get rid of the ocean that is spread over thousands of km, but there are some people who hope to live in a situation where people like us have zero percent chances of survival. Today we will tell you the story of one such person who, with his unbeaten courage and strong will, forced a vast ocean like the Pacific Ocean to kneel down.

The name of this incredible man is Jose Salvador Alvarenga, who was a highly experienced Mexican fisherman who often used to visit the Pacific Ocean for fishing as a profession. As usual, on 17 November 2012, after completing all his preparations, Alvarenga left for his journey from Costa Azul village in Mexico along with a friend, Ezequiel Cordoba. The boat on which both of them were going for fishing was only 7 meters long, it did not even have a roof over it nor did it have any small room. There was a small icebox in the boat in which they had to keep fish and a single outboard motor was attached to drive the boat. But that day, the mood of the ocean seemed to have changed a lot, like a terrible storm is going to happen in the next few hours. But by now they had reached 120 km away from the shore. At 1 o'clock in the night, both of them were caught in the grip of a terrible storm, due to the storm, they cut the nets they had laid for fishing and left them in the ocean and they started driving the boat towards the shore quickly. For six hours, Alvarenga drove the boat continuously to the shore and they were now only 24 km away from the shore and could able to see the peaks of the mountains on the ground.


But then the motor driving the boat appeared to be damaged, but the radio installed in the boat was still working and with the help of the radio, they told their location to their boss. But then the battery of his boat's radio also went down and his radio was also turned off. Now think how frustrated both of them must have been at that time, they both could not take the boat anywhere and they lost contact with the outside world too. The land was close by but the wind moving in the opposite direction started to float their boat away from the shore and their boat started moving towards the deep ocean. Their boss sent a search team to find them and the search operation was carried out for four days, but both of them were not found anywhere. And then conceding defeat, his boss stopped searching for them. In five days, the wind drifted them 450 km away from the shore and now they had the only blue sea all around and their boat was too small in that big ocean, which was not easily possible to find its location from the sky. They had neither a flare gun or any such device by which they could ask for help by sending a signal.

In such a situation, their food was raw fish, turtles, and small birds. They found some plastic bottles floating in the water which they collected and whenever it rained, they would store rainwater in those bottles. But when it doesn't rain, they had to satisfy their thirst by drinking the blood of turtles or by drinking their own urine. Four months passed in the same way but no one had discovered them yet. During this time, Alvarenga's friend Cordoba gave up hope of living and he also stopped eating and as a result, his body weakened. Cordoba became so weak and sick by eating raw food that his life ended by refusing to eat more. Now you might imagine what would have been running in Alvarenga's mind after losing his friend Cordoba, who was his only support in the big ocean there. Now Alvarenga was left alone in the vast pacific ocean, and four days after his friend's death, Alvarenga also gave up hope of living and thought of committing suicide. But Alvarenga's strong religious faith was not allowing him to do so. But then Alvarenga tried to fight for life and somehow continue to keep himself alive.

During that time, Alvarenga was in the part of the pacific ocean where ships used to come only occasionally. After about 8 months a cargo ship passed from there, Alvarenga made a gesture by standing up but the ship went straight away and nobody noticed the Alvarenga. It was a really disappointing time for him because the moment he was waiting for so long could not even help him. So far in 11 months, Alvarenga had traveled 8000 km in his small boat, and in this journey, he faced harsh sunshine and many storms. Finally, on 30 January 2014, he saw coconuts floating in the water and birds flying in the sky, Alvarenga understood that the ground was nearby. And then he found a Tile Islet, a small island that is part of Ebon Atoll, he jumped from his boat and swam to the shore. After staying in water for 438 days, he got the chance of putting his steps back on the land. He saw a house on that island and knocked on the door of the house. This moment was one of the most beautiful moments of Alvarenga's life in which he was ready to meet a human after so many months. This island was in the middle of the ocean, if he had also missed that island, then he would have to travel another 5000 km and look for the next land. Later a few days, Alvarenga came home and wrote a book on this terrible journey of his life. Unknowingly, Alvarenga made a world record of living in the ocean for 438 days, which no human would want to break.

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Spanish Galleon San Jose -A Ship With World’s Largest Sunken Treasure

When a huge ship disappears in the unknown depths of the ocean, then we all start trembling with fear, thinking how terrible that scene will be. We all remember the sinking of the Titanic but do you know, there was something similar happened about 200 years ago when a ship submerged into the sea loaded with the most valuable treasure.

Image Credit - Wikipedia

Today we will talk about a Spanish ship which was sunk in the depths of the ocean about 200 years ago and it is said that there was a valuable treasure of worth billions on this ship. The date was 8 June 1708 when the "San Jose galleon Watership" of Spain was engulfed in flames near the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. The Spanish ship galleon had been fighting a war against Britain since late afternoon, but the people on the ship did not know that the coming time was going to be very bad for them which they had not even imagined. Because by night, this 62-cannon galleon ship submerged into the Caribbean Sea. There were about 600 people aboard the ship, who sunk in the ocean, and at the same time, Spain's treasure of billions (up to $20 billion worth of gold, silver, and jewels) was also lost on the ocean floor.

See Also:-Ourang Medan - A Mysterious Ghost Ship

San Jose galleon began its journey from Portobelo, the port city of Panama, in late May 1708, and was laden with gold, silver, and precious jewels, which were extracted from what was then Spanish-controlled Peru. It is said that at that time gold, silver, and precious gems worth about US$20 billion were sunk along with galleon ship. The ruins of the ship are still lying there 600 meters deep in Colombian waters. The San Jose galleon is also called the Holy Grail of Shipwrecks. For centuries, the ship remained away from the outside world with carrying a secret of its most valuable treasure into the deep ocean. But in 2015, the mystery of San Jose began to be revealed, when the Colombian government officially announced that the galleon ship had been found. When the Coast Guard team descended into the deep ocean, the scene they encountered was truly shocking. The wreckage of the galleon ship appeared in front of the divers, but the biggest challenge before them was to find the treasure on the ship, which they had already been told about. A special thanks to an underwater vehicle called the REMUS 6000 that made this amazing discovery possible.

The divers began to investigate the galleon's debris and then a scene came in front of them which surprised them a lot and that was the treasure of billions of dollars that the whole world was looking for. The investigation team found thousands of gold and silver coins from the galleon debris that belonged to that period. A joint team of experts, the Colombian Navy, and the archaeological department reported that the wreckage of the galleon ship has been discovered near the island of Baru. As the mystery of the lost treasure was being unraveled, so the several claimants of wealth laden on the ship were coming in front of the world. Now, it is at the center of a custody dispute between all parties claiming San Jose's riches. But now after this billion of dollars treasure mystery revealed, the one thing is clear that these calm oceans are still hidden plenty of secrets in their vastness which are yet to be revealed.

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What is Herd immunity and how will it help in fighting against Coronavirus

Corona has ruined everything, from life to the economy and big countries are only watching their people die and are unable to do anything. The United Nations has already expressed apprehension of starvation, and what will happen if similar circumstances prevail. Will the world continue to suffer everything like this and will there be a surgical strike on the corona when a country will make its vaccine. There are many experiments are being done in many countries of the world to make its vaccine, but none have been successful so far. Then what is the cure for this deadly virus, only this topic is being debated worldwide and scientists believe that it can be prevented with herd immunity. Now the question is what is Herd immunity. But before you know this, keep the one phrase of Charles Darwin's theory in mind, and that was "survival of the fittest", that is, only those will survive who will be able to survive. Herd immunity revolves around this thinking, so will this theory help to avoid corona, let's know about it.

Image Credit - Wikipedia

So far, more than 3,300,000 people have been infected and 234,000 people have died across the world, causing catastrophe, death, and lockdown everywhere. India is also in the same condition, there is a possibility of starvation in the world and the vaccine of Corona has not been made yet, then what is the cure of corona? How long will the world sit in fear for this virus and when will the world take aggressive steps against this virus. And the answer to these questions is herd immunity. Herd immunity is also known as population immunity, or social immunity i.e. to develop immunity in a very large group. But before understanding what it means in the context of coronavirus, you should first understand the concept of herd immunity properly. Herd immunity is meant to protect a large group of humans against the disease. Usually, a large population develops immunity by giving vaccine of that disease, even if some people are missed, the disease does not affect them. All this already happened with smallpox, measles, and polio. The vaccine of these diseases was given all over the world and now these diseases are almost over.

But people in the group can be saved only when a vaccine for this dangerous virus is developed, but no vaccine has been developed yet. Therefore, some scientists of the world believe that to end the coronavirus, the whole society should be infected, it may sound strange but it is true. In relation to coronavirus, it is now being said that if this virus spreads to more people then the immunity of those who get infected will help in fighting it. People who will be cured by fighting this disease will become immune from it, and their abilities to fight the disease will be developed inside the body and then Corona will become a common virus-like billion of viruses already in the body.


Now you can understand the whole concept in this way, if only a few people have strong immunity, then this virus can easily infect most people, but if the immunity of most people will be strong even after infection. Then this will stop the spread of the virus. The virus will not affect the strong immune system and it will not spread further. It is now being said that herd immunity against coronavirus can only develop when around sixty percent of the country's people become infected with the virus and become immune by fighting it. Now suppose 60 percent of India's population gets infected with Corona, what will happen then. Now the question arises as to what will happen to those who are already suffering from severe illness or are belong to old age, won't their life be threatened. Accordingly, 82 crore people in India will have to be infected with corona. So far, 3.24 percent of the total people infected with coronavirus in India are dying. This means that 2.66 crore people are expected to die. Is a developing country like India ready for all this? By the way, in India, people who speak in favor of herd immunity have different arguments.

According to them, 65 percent of India's population is under 35 years old, only six percent of people are over 65 years of age and people of this old age group are more at risk from Corona. Suppose that a large population of India is below 65 years of age, but the young population will still able to fight against Corona infection, it cannot be guaranteed. Because young people are also being infected by Coronavirus. Though it is still being talked about herd immunity in India, but Sweden has started working on herd immunity in his capital city Stockholm. There are lockdowns in other countries of Europe but Sweden has not applied lockdown, schools, restaurants, and malls are still open there. By government, social distancing is being asked to accept, a crowd of more than 50 people cannot gather in one place.

Despite this, Sweden seems to be in a much better condition than its other neighboring countries. Sweden has 21092 total corona positive cases so far and 2586 people have died. Sweden claims that herd immunity will develop in Stockholm within the next few weeks. A small and developed country like Sweden can experiment on this concept but it is not possible for India at any cost due to its huge population. So until a vaccine is developed, there is only one solution, take care and follow the lockdown.

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Bracken Cave - The world's largest colony of bats, now likely to cause damage to humanity

Before the Coronavirus came into existence, we never thought that bats can affect humanity to such an extent, but now when it is being said that the reason behind this fatal disease is bats, then it is a big reason to worry now. Because today we are going to tell you about such a place where millions of bats are inhabited and the name of this place is Bracken Cave. There will be many other bat colonies in the world, but this is the largest among them. Located in southern Comal County, Texas, the outskirts of San Antonio, it is home to the largest colony of bats in the world, with over 20 million bats. The cave is the summer home to twenty million Mexican free-tailed bats, making it one of the world's most important bat conservation sites. On each evening of summer, the sky above Bracken Cave is filled with countless bats, emerging from the entrance of the ancient sinkhole with the 100-foot-wide crescent-shaped opening.

Image Source - Flickr

These small flying mammals inhabit this cave between March and October, arriving from Mexico to their summer home by covering a distance of 1,000 miles, making it the largest concentration of mammals anywhere in the world. After arriving in the cave, they give birth to their next generation. Access to the cave is strictly restricted by the Bat Conservation International in order to protect the bats' natural home, they only open it to the public in the summer evenings to see bats emerging from the cave. The number of bats in Bracken Cave is often estimated at more than 20 million, but the exact number is still unknown due to their huge population. According to research conducted on bats in Bracken Cave, it is said that the clouds of bats rising from the cave were up to 30 miles long and 20 miles wide.

Image Source - Flickr

There are about 900 to over 1,200 species of bats in the world and which species of bats are more dangerous, it is difficult to say. In many countries around the world bats are eaten as particularly tasty food, but sometimes eating bats can be very dangerous for us, such as now as coronaviruses. But this is also being said on the basis of an assumption, but so far, there is no strong evidence that bats are responsible for this deadly disease. But now if the topic is on bats then let's talk about bats only. Why bats are always responsible for such deadly diseases? There is a big reason for this fact. Because bats are the source of more dangerous viruses than any other mammal. You all have probably heard about bat-borne viruses, a virus that originates from any species of bat and has destructive powers, including coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. Nipah virus, Ebola virus, and Marburg virus, all fall under the category of Bat-borne virus and are extremely dangerous.

And if it is now said that bats are the living home to many dangerous viruses, then it may be that the millions of bats in Bracken Cave are also threatening humanity in some way or somewhere.

Image Source - Flickr

A new study found that there are two main types of coronaviruses causing infections worldwide, with two viral strains as S and L types. The L type is considered more destructive than the S type, which is causing more destruction and was found to be more prevalent in places where the death rate was much higher.

It is said that the bats through which the coronavirus was spread in Wuhan are very large in size and dangerous too. But now in the same way many large-sized bats are being seen in many parts of India, due to which there is an atmosphere of fear among the people. But whether these are the same bats that caused coronavirus in Wuhan, it is difficult to say.

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Miyakejima - An Island where residents always have to wear gas masks to stay alive

Currently, the Coronavirus has spread its limits in the world in such a way that the entire world has been locked down and due to which people have been imprisoned in their own homes. And even if you ever have to go out, it has become very mandatory for everyone to wear masks. In the time of this crisis, if we have to wear masks for a while, we get frustrated very quickly but do you know that there is a place in the world where people have to wear masks for 24 hours a day? The place is named Miyakejima which is an island located in Japan. People on this island do not wear masks with their own choice or happiness, rather they have to do this to save their lives. Actually, there is a big reason behind this whole concept, due to which they have to do all this despite not wanting. So let's know the whole story behind it.

Image Source- Flickr

Actually, Miyakejima is an inhabited volcanic island, which is one of Japan’s Izu Islands, an archipelago just south of Tokyo. The Izu Islands are a group of many small and large islands but only seven of them are inhabited which are referred to as the "Izu Seven". These seven islands are Oshima, Mikurajima, Toshima, Hachijojima, Kozujima, Niijima, and Miyakejima. Although Aogashima and Shikinejima are sometimes included. Oshima is the largest and Toshima is the smallest island among these Islands. But the Izu Island that we are talking about here is Miyakejima, however, all the Izu Islands lie on an active volcanic belt, but Miyakejima has a very active volcano, Mount Oyama, which has been erupted many times throughout history, causing the emission of extremely high levels of toxic gas in the area. As it is a volcanic island, the people here always have a fear of a volcanic eruption that can occur at any time.

The island has experienced several volcanic eruptions over the past century, the last major eruption occurred in 2000, which was an extremely dreadful eruption. The eruption emitted large amounts of toxic gases that were released along with lava, mainly sulfur dioxide. Not only this, even after this eruption a constant flow of these toxic gases continued to release from the volcano. Miyakejima Island was completely evacuated after the 2000's eruption, but the residents were allowed to settle again on the island back in 2005, after a four-year period of continued volcanic emissions. However, residents were allowed to settle on the island again, but a warning was also given that they would have to wear a gas mask at all times, as they had to do to protect themselves from these toxic gases. The amount of toxic gases in the air here is much higher than the normal level. Flights here were resumed in April 2008 after suspension for nearly eight years after 2000's eruption.

Residents wearing masks

N95 respirator mask or normal masks are being used to avoid the coronavirus, while the masks that people used in Miyakejima Island are not just ordinary masks. These specially designed masks are called gas masks, used especially to protect the person from inhaling toxic gases and airborne pollutants. Adventure tourists also visit the island but they are strictly required to carry gas masks as soon as they reached on the island. After their arrival, gas masks are available at many tourist shops on the island. In the tourism world, the island is famous as gas mask tourism. The main attraction of the island is the empty houses whose owners have never returned to the island, and these empty houses are the buildings that are destroyed by lava. Gas mask tourism is the main source of income for the residents here. The island of Miyakejima is also known for its rich flora and fauna, which contains many rare species of birds and animals, but they are greatly influenced by human and volcanic activities here.

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Great Fire of London - A devastating fire in London’s history, destroying 13,200 houses and 87 parish churches

In the hot summer of 1666, the city of London was greatly devastated by the worst fire ever recorded in London’s history, destroying almost 13,200 houses and 87 parish churches. Eighty percent of the building's top was erased, no other city had ever burned like this. At that time the city of London was a different place than it is now but even then it was the center of England's trade and finance. The story of the fire is linked to a bakery where the fire accidentally began and took a large part of the city under its grip. The fire swept through the London city from Sunday, 2 September to Thursday, 6 September, and when the fire was finally controlled, more than four-fifths of London was destroyed, including most of the civic buildings.

The entire story began when the fire broke out accidentally at the bakery of Thomas Farriner on Pudding Lane near London Bridge in the early morning hours. Sparks from Farrinor’s bakery jumped across the street and spread rapidly across the City of London in the form of a fierce fire. The major fire fighting technique of the time was used to control the fire but it involved very little skill or knowledge. Because during that time there was no fire brigade to call and therefore long ladders, leather buckets, axes, firehooks (for pulling down buildings), and water squirts were used to fight the fire, which were not considered the effective ways to extinguish the fire. But eventually, after several efforts by firefighters, the fire was taken under control by the 6th of September.


During 1666, the City of London consisted of medieval houses made mostly of oak timber. Some poor houses had tar-covered walls, which prevented rain but caused the structures to catch fire easily by sparks, or flames. Due to the medieval street plan, the streets were narrow and houses were crowded together, causing much disappointment for firefighting efforts. Even under normal conditions, the carts, wagons, and pedestrians were often subject to traffic jams in sub-standard streets. Therefore during the fire, the demolition teams and firefighters struggled to enter the narrow streets, as roads were blocked by people trying to escaping outwards, away from the center of destruction, causing it to took longer to extinguish the fire. The use of water to extinguish the fire was also frustrated, including primitive hand pumps and other water squirts methods, which also prolonged the duration of the fire.

The fire was definitely extinguished but it caused very huge damage to London city, resulting in the destruction of 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral, and most of the City authorities buildings. The great fire is responsible for making hundreds of thousands of people homeless, which was terrifying. But miraculously only six people had died, which was a very small death toll behind such a huge disaster.

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