When fear spreads through a crowd and everybody begins to run in all directions, blinded by fear and unsure who or what they're stomping on as they flee for safety, a human stampede can be just as deadly as a rampaging herd of cattle.
In 2005 a stampede broke out when thousands of Shiites who were headed to a religious festival panicked as the rumor of a suicide bomber spread among the crowd.
The death toll from this single incident matched casualty numbers from the beginning of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq, and all because of blind panic caused by a rumor that proved to be untrue.
A stampede of marchers is one thing, but stadium stampedes are something we can all relate to, and the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium Stampede showed that sports fans will kill to watch a match.
The stadium gates were opened to alleviate some of the crowding outside the stadium, and as the fans poured in they found no place to go but forward.
In the end 93 people were crushed to death and over 200 were wounded when a crowd control tactic proved to be a tragic mistake.
Tread carefully when you read about the 10 Deadliest Human Stampedes, because you might not want to be around large groups of people ever again!
The deaths were caused by mismanagement of the crowd by the police, who then spent the next 30 years falsifying witness statements and smearing the supporters in order to hide their culpability.