Worst deaths possible − from being eaten by bugs to boiling alive in manhole
Throughout the course of human existence, people have died or been killed in truly horrific circumstances. This has shown just how dangerous the world − or our fellow man − can really be.
For centuries, people have suffered strange deaths − either accidentally, as part of a battle or as a brutal form of torture. These examples show just some of the barbaric ways that people meet their end.
From being boiled alive in a manhole to be being horrifically eaten alive by insects in a chilling form of revenge, here are just some of the worst deaths to ever take place in human history….
Insect banquet
Historians have been horrified over the ancient, but savage method of torture known as scaphism. To this day, it has remained one of the most brutal and barbaric forms of execution ever devised.
The practice involved tying a victim between two wooden boats and force-feeding them milk and honey. Their body would then be coated with more of what they drank, before the victim would be left to die.
The practise was allegedly used by a Persian soldier, who used the method to kill King Artaxerxes’ brother during a banquet. After being coated in the honey, the stench of his waste would attract insects, who would gradually eat through him − he reportedly died 17 days later.
Horrific cesspits
Back in 2022, it was revealed by historical mortician Caitlin Doughty that a man and his mother had suffered horrific deaths in 2014 in the Xinxiang region of central China.
According to the mortician, the man’s wife had bought a new phone for him but accidentally dropped it into a cesspit. Trying to be a chivalrous gent, the man jumped in to grab the phone, but quickly passed out after being overcome by fumes.
His mum also jumped into the cesspit to save her son, but succumbed to the fumes. Another four people would end up going into the pit − but managed to survive.
Brutal boiling
In one horrifying story from recent times, a man died after he was thrown into a manhole filled with boiling water. Medical examiner Dr Judy Melinek explained this was the worst thing she had ever seen as someone who dealt with death.
Judy explained that an argument erupted between two men after they had gone out drinking, with one throwing the other into an open manhole. However, due to a broken water main, the only water at the bottom was boiling.
Emergency services were called to the scene, with the man still screaming for help when they arrived. The rescue operation would last three hours, but he died a short time later, with Dr Judy saying: “His organs literally cooked as he had been boiled alive.”
Slow cuts
One of the most brutal ways to go was via the practice of Lingchi, known in English as “death by a thousand cuts”. Used as a form of torture and execution in China, it was a tried and tested method that lasted for over a thousand years before being banned in 1905.
As part of the execution, knives were used to gradually remove different parts of the body until the victim would eventually die. The execution would slowly take place and would be on display in public parks as a form of humiliation.
The practice of using Lingchi would only be granted if the offender was charged with major crimes such as high treason, murder or the killing of their parents.
The number of cuts used on each victim ranged as there was no specific minimum that needed to be reached − with offenders receiving as many as 3,000 cuts before they were killed.
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