October 13
2013
2013 Madhya Pradesh stampede (Ratangarh Mata temple stampede)
On October 13, 2013, thousands of devotees gathered at the hilltop Ratangarh Mata shrine near Datia, Madhya Pradesh, for Navratri. In the mid‑afternoon a panic — reportedly sparked by rumors that a railing or bridge had given way — sent people surging on narrow stone stairways. Within minutes a deadly crowd crush left about 115 people dead and scores injured. The disaster exposed how ad hoc crowd control, crowded stairways and rumor-driven fear can turn devotion into tragedy, and it spurred limited local changes to festival planning and crowd management. Read more
1972
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
On October 13, 1972, a Fairchild FH-227D carrying the Old Christians Club rugby team and others crashed into a remote, high‑altitude glaciated area of the Andes near the Argentina–Chile border. Of the 45 people aboard, 16 survived after 72 days of cold, injury and impossible choices; their story would become one of the most wrenching survival tales of the 20th century. Read more
1972
Aeroflot Flight 217 crash (Tupolev Tu-104 accident)
On October 13, 1972, Aeroflot Flight 217, a Tupolev Tu‑104 on final approach to Sheremetyevo Airport near Moscow, descended below published approach minima in dense autumn weather, struck trees short of the runway, and was destroyed. The official investigation attributed the accident to controlled flight into terrain caused by descent below safe altitudes amid instrument meteorological conditions, with procedural and air‑traffic factors cited as contributing issues. Read more
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