Massive (and I mean REALLY Massive) Fails

[antiphile]

It's been so many years since I had a look at the Darwin Awards and I only stumbled on it again today. All of us make stuff-ups, some are just way way better than others.

 

(31 March 2013, Newcastle, England) The UK homeless population's numbers are difficult to gauge; the website Crisis.co.uk sets a low estimate at 2,300 homeless people per night.

 

Intending to advance his career, investigative journalist Lee Halpin, 26, decided to acquire background in the problem by pretending to be homeless. He borrowed a sleeping bag and, waving aside the concerns of friends and family, he set off into the streets alone. "I will sleep rough, scrounge for my food, interact with as many homeless people as possible, and immerse myself in that lifestyle as deeply as I can," said the journalist--three days before freezing to death in a boarded up hostel.

 

Hypothermia is suspected and autopsy results are pending; meanwhile, two homeless men have been arrested on possibly-related drug charges.

 

27 February 2012, North Carolina) "It was just a freak incident," said an investigator, that caused the death of 43-year-old Gary Allen Banning. Gary was at a friend's apartment when he spotted a salsa jar containing a mystery fluid. Thinking that it was an alcoholic beverage, he helped himself to a sizeable swig of gasoline! Naturally enough, he immediately spit out the offending liquid onto his clothes. Then, to recover from the shock, Gary lit a cigarette.

 

Whoosh! Gas+Flame=Combustion.

 

Firefighters responded to calls reporting a fire in the apartment, and found a badly burned man sitting on a charred carpet. The following morning, Gasoline Gary died at the UNC Burn Center in Chapel Hill.

 

Two mistakes caused his death. The first mistake was minor: gulping a golden liquid from a salsa jar. Although Darwin Awards editors feel that a jar of yellow liquid is best left sealed, drinking its contents usually does not lead to combustion. But the second mistake--lighting up a cigarette to recover from the shock of taking a mouthful of gasoline--was a decision that an average five year old would consider questionable. As the late Bill Hicks said, "Darn, we lost another idiot."

 

Gary's friend was a mechanic and kept the jar of gasoline near the kitchen sink to remove grease from his hands.

 

(5 Feb 2013, São Paulo, Brazil) Mechanic Sérgio A. Rosa, 49, was welding a gas tanker that, curiously, exploded, sending his remains flying 400 meters through the air.

[porschemad911]

Oh dear ... certainly puts my '1kg dextrose by mistake instead of 300g in my Celebration Ale' fail into perspective.