ZEE5 Original Bombers is a football series revolving around a football team in Chandan Nagar, West Bengal – Bombers FC. A tragic accident claims the lives of the team’s players, except its captain. The narrative thereafter traces the story of a team of underdogs who put in their sweat and blood and only aim to win the Zee Bangla League. As we gear up to #GoBombers, check out ten of the worst disasters in the history of football.

On 24 May 1964, the National Stadium in Lima witnessed a horrific incident during a qualifying match between Peru and Argentina. The rivalry between these countries turned fatal after Peru was disallowed two goals. Fans of the team ensued a riot and the tragedy ended in 318 lives being killed and hundreds injured.

A dreadful disaster took place during a game between Scottish club rivals Rangers and Celtic on 2 January 1971. As fans of the former started leaving the stadium as Celtic took lead, the barriers on Stairway 13 collapsed leaving 200 injured and 66 dead.

Munich air disaster of 1958 is one of the most horrific tragedies in football history. Eight young and talented Manchester United players, popularly known as the Busby Babes, lost their lives along with few passengers, supporters, and journalists, in the crash. Busby took a decade to recover from the loss and rebuild a team that lifted the European Cup in 1968.

The Luzhniki disaster is one of the saddest occurrences with a death toll as high as over 300. During the 1982-1983 UEFA Cup match on 20 Oct. 1982 at the Grand Sports Arena of the Central Lelin Stadium, fans leaving the ground collided with those returning resulting in a lethal human crush.

Bradford City FC has witnessed one of the most horrendous tragedies in British football history. Apparently, a burning cigarette abandoned by a fan at Bradford City Stadium on 11 May 1985, ignited a pile of garbage stored under the wooden stands. The flames caused pieces of tar, wood and even metal to fall off, on fans present. After 56 people were killed and more than 450 injured, Britain banned wooden stands.

Caused due to a natural calamity, the Kathmandu disaster took place on 12 March 1988. About 30,000 fans were watching a Nepal vs Bangladesh match when a major hailstorm hit suddenly. Trembled, fans rushed to the exits and the stampeded took lives of 93 people.

One of the world’s worst football disasters, the Hillsborough Disaster occurred during an FA Cup match between Liverpool and Sheffield United on 15 April 1989. A sudden surge of fans through a gate killed 96 Liverpool fans and injured 776 of them. Steven Gerrard’s 10-year-old cousin who was the youngest victim of the tragedy.

On 9 May 2001, an unfortunate incident occurred at the Accra Sports Stadium during a match between Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko. The police fired tear gas to get control over some unruly fans which led to 70,000 fans scrambling for exits all at once causing a stampede which claimed 126 lives and injured many more.

The Port Said disaster is amongst the recent horrors the world has experienced. The tragedy struck during a match between two rival teams Al Masry and Al-Ahly on1 February 2012. Thousands of Al Ahly fans went onto the rival spectators’ area post-match and attacked them with knives, bottles, and swords. 79 people lost their lives while 1000 were injured.

The LaMia 2933 crash of 2016 is a recent addition to the list. On 28 November 2016 La Mia 2933 crashed near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 of 77 people on board. The aircraft was carrying the Brazilian Chapecoense football squad and their entourage from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, to Medellín, where the team was slated to play at the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals.

Do you know any other football tragedy that shook the world? Tell us in the comments box below.

Until then watch Aahana Kumra’s latest short film ‘Yours Truly’, also streaming on ZEE5.