accidents
Jury in California Decides Size Does Matter
Danny Gold · 01/17/12 07:58PMPoor Matthew Wall. A tragic motorcycle crash shortly after he got married left him with extensive nerve damage, a shattered pubic ramus bone, and some unfortunate damage to his penis. Reconstructive surgery could only help so much, and the 27-year-old Navy man lost a total of 1.5 inches from his manhood.
Listen to Italy's Most Cowardly Captain Refuse to Return to His Sinking Ship
John Cook · 01/17/12 01:55PMFrancesco Schettino, the Italian cruise ship captain who caroused with his passengers before steering his ship dangerously close to shore and then fleeing immediately when it ran aground and capsized, leaving 11 (at last count) to die and thousands to flail in terror, sounds like a real go-getter. Here is a tape of an Italian Coast Guard official ordering Schettino, who was speaking by phone from a lifeboat, to get back aboard and help evacuate the women and children who were still on his boat. He said no.
Horrible Cruise Ship Capsizing Actually Sounds Sort of Funny
Max Read · 01/16/12 10:19AMDo Not Shoot Your Gun in the Air, Lest You Kill Someone
Hamilton Nolan · 12/20/11 02:53PMRachel Yoder, a 15 year-old Amish girl in Ohio, was riding home in her buggy from a Christmas party last week when she was, mysteriously and without warning, shot in the head and killed. Now police have found the killer: a man who fired his "muzzle-loading rifle" into the air while cleaning it, more than a mile away.
Horrible Scene After Plane Crashes and Explodes on N.J. Highway
Max Read · 12/20/11 02:24PMFive people and a dog were killed around 10 a.m. today when a small plane crashed on I-287 outside of Morris Township in New Jersey. The single-engine turbo-prop plane, which was piloted by a managing director of the investment bank Greenhill & Co., and carrying his wife, two children, and a coworker, had taken off from Teterboro Airport and was headed for Atlanta when it disappeared from radar. The Newark Star-Ledger writes that it "appeared to nosedive and disintegrate"; although no one on the ground died, the debris was strewn across a half-mile area and the wreckage was horrifying:
Demonic Golf Cart Terrorizes High School Football Game
Seth Abramovitch · 12/18/11 11:59PMYou know, the one thing not missing from the Friday Night Lights series finale was the presence of a possessed golf cart mowing down the Permian Panthers' defensive line. The Spring Dekaney Wildcats were not so lucky: The Texan high school football team were barely able to celebrate their new state title when just such a berserk vehicle — like something out of a not-particularly-terrifying Stephen King novel! — sent the stadium into a panic. Everyone was okay, though, so it's all right to laugh. Hahaha! Runaway golf cart! [Buzzfeed]
Woman Killed in Freak Elevator Accident
Brian Moylan · 12/14/11 11:55AMSix Dead After Plane Slams Into Superstition Mountains
Seth Abramovitch · 11/23/11 11:43PMComment of the Day: 'I'm Goin' Down, Mate!'
Leah Beckmann · 11/23/11 05:45PMPilot Cheats Death After His Helicopter Snaps in Half
Lauri Apple · 11/23/11 09:24AMA special message for you Christmas celebrators: This year, when using your helicopter to set up and decorate your tree, try not to fly close to any structures. Otherwise, your propellers might get caught and cause you to have a crash in which you die. That would ruin Christmas!
Hospital Really Sorry About Injecting Man With Execution Drug
Lauri Apple · 11/19/11 03:04PMIn July 2010, 79-year-old Florida man Richard Smith went to the hospital complaining about breathing troubles and stomach pains. After his nurse accidentally injected him with Pancuronium—a drug that's given to death row inmates during the execution process—Smith's health troubles were gone. But so was he, eventually.
Despite His Name, Buzz Lightyear is Not a Sex Toy, Guys
Seth Abramovitch · 11/18/11 01:26AMIf you, like me, are a big fan of nonfiction, then you'll want to add Stuck Up! 125 Objects Inserted and Ingested in Places They Shouldn't Be to your holiday reading list, and pronto. Who wouldn't want to curl up to a roaring fire this Christmas with a definitive compendium of funny things stuck inside people's bodily cavities? Sure, slowly squatting onto a 12-Inch Karate Action Buzz Lightyear might sound like a good idea after a couple of grams of high-grade crystal methamphetamine; it's the journey back to Earth that isn't always quite so pleasant. (And if you think that's bad, you should see what happened to the guy's Woody.) [Stuck Up! via TMZ]
Fire Island is Actually On Fire
Seth Abramovitch · 11/14/11 11:33PMAt least 19 fire companies from Long Island have responded to a blaze at the Pavilion and LaFountaine buildings on Fire Island Pines, the social hub of the legendary gay beach community. The fire began around 9:15 p.m. The complex was sold in 2010 to FIP Ventures, and encompasses the Pavilion nightclub, the Blue Whale and Bay Bar restaurants, the Hotel Ciel, a grocery store and gym. Word from the scene is that firefighters have the blaze under control, and that it hasn't spread to any residences or rental properties. No cause has yet been determined. We'll have more on this story as it develops. [Photo credit: The Fire Island Pines Historical Preservation Society/Facebook]
Dad and Teen Son Die in Separate Freeway Crashes, Hours Apart
Seth Abramovitch · 11/10/11 09:40PMStraight Rugby Player Suffers Stroke, Wakes Up a Flaming Homosexual
Brian Moylan · 11/08/11 03:21PMGas Tanker Explosion Creates Terrifying, Gigantic Fireball
Lauri Apple · 11/08/11 05:10AMThis glowing fireball is not the coming of Harold Camping's apocalypse but the aftermath of a collision between a tanker carrying 8,500 gallons of gas and a minivan, which took place on the New Jersey Turnpike last night. Citizen journalist @MelissaJoann was there and filmed what she saw; this image is a still from her crazy-looking video.
Occupy Oakland: Protesters Run Down, Port Shut Down, Tear Gas All Around
Lauri Apple · 11/03/11 07:28AMSounds like last night was another eventful one for the demonstrators of Occupy Oakland. After yesterday's general strike, during which anarchists who seem to hold a grudge against $10 tempeh loaves defiled the sanctity of a local Whole Foods, protesters occupied the local Travelers Aid building, danced in the streets, and hung an "Occupy Everything" banner, reports ABC.
80-Year-Old Man Goes for Morning Paper, Falls in Sinkhole
Max Read · 10/31/11 07:09PMOn Monday morning, an 80-year-old Long Island man walked out his front door to get his paper—as he'd done hundreds of times before—only to fall, suddenly, into an eight-foot-deep hole, from where he was forced to scream to his daughter for help. Were you looking for a living, breathing metaphor for the newspaper industry? Because there's one in a hole in Oceanside, New York.