As 2015 draws to a close, we are reminded that we live in a world that needs hope more than anything else. Thousands this year have lost their lives to tragedies and events that could have been averted.
While many are eagerly waiting for 2016, thousands across the globe will be trying to cope with the calamities and losses of 2015.
Here we look back on some of the events of 2015 that shocked the world.
Migrant deaths at sea - Since April 2015, there have been 566 migrants confirmed to have died, while 1701 missing are still missing in the Mediterranean Sea after their boats capsized in the sea as they fled from crisis ridden countries or regions. The phenomenon has been referred to as the European migrant crisis
While the crisis has been ongoing, the collective consciousness of the international community was shaken after the image of a dead migrant child went viral. The situation of the 'boat people' gained media attention only by September after an image of Alan Kurdi, (Aylan Kurdi), a three-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish ethnic background, made global headlines after he drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, as part of the Syrian refugee crisis.
Nepal Earthquake - A massive earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 hit Nepal on 25 April. The quake killed over 9,000 people and an estimated 23,000 were injured in the natural calamity.
The worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, this one reportedly triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 19, making 25 April the deadliest day in mountaineering history.
Saudi Hajj stampede - In one of the deadliest Hajj disasters in history, at least 2,235 people were killed in a stampede on 24 September in Mina. The Muslim pilgrims were suffocated or crushed due to overcrowding at an intersection on the road leading to the Jamarat complex, where Hajj pilgrims perform the "stoning the devil" ritual.
In another incident, just before the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, at least 115 people were killed on 11 September, after a crane collapsed on the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
Tijiang blast- On 12 August, a series of explosions rocked the industrial port town of Tianjin in China. At least 173 people were killed and 797 were injured in the massive explosions inside the warehouse owned by a company called Ruihai International Logistics.
The impact of the blast was felt within a 10 km radius of the port city, and left a massive crater at the explosion site.
Chennai floods- The heavy rainfall in November-December in South India killed at least 400 people and left 1.8 million displaced. Chennai, which is the fourth largest city in the country, was the worst hit flood region, after incessant rains submerged the metropolitan city.
The Chennai floods have been described as the worst in a century. The floods sent its ripples out to the UN climate change meet in Paris, where the delegates used the flooding in Chennai to remind negotiators of the urgency of the matter to speed up discussions for a pact to counter climate change, Indian Express had reported.
