On April 15, 2013, when two pressure cookers exploded during the Boston marathon, killing 3 people and injuring about 264 others, it shook the whole world to its core. While the ensuing days saw the police frantically searching for the two suspects, it was proven once again that sporting events, just like any other events are no longer safe. Unfortunately,this was not the first time that the world of sports was shaken by such a tragedy. For as long as we know, sports have been associated with war, competition, blood and gore. We know about the gladiators of Rome who died to the death fighting, football fans rampaging the field in a mad frenzy ending in stampede and killing of innocent fans, many a times, fans resorting to violence when their teams did not win. Certain moments make us scream at our televisions, the anxiety that grips us while watching a nail biting match, we mourn the loss of a game, we cheer our favorite sporting heroes but when the Boston bombings made the news, it reminded us that sporting history has been marred by a number of tragedies that the world will never forget. Here is a list of a few sports tragedies that still disturb us.
10. Superga Air Disaster
31 Dead, No Survivors
On 4 may 1949, a plane carrying the entire Torino AC football team crashed into the Superga hill, near Turin in northern Italy. The team which was popularly known as II Grande Torino was returning home from a friendly match in Lisbon, Portugal when the pilot deceived by terrible conditions crashed the plane into a wall at the rear of a basilica that adorned the Superga hill. All the 31 passengers on-board were killed which included 18 players, club officials, journalists and the team crew. Most of the dead bodies were damaged so badly by the crash that they could only be identified by the jewelry and photos found on them. This tragedy had a huge impact on Italian football, with over half a million Italians lining up the streets to watch the funeral procession, and about 30,000 people going to Superga to pay their respects to the beloved players. Vittorio Pozzo, who led the Italian team to victory in two successive world cups, was the team manager at the time was devastated uttering these words, “The Torino team is no more…it has disappeared…it is burnt…it has exploded.”....
