10 Photos Taken Some Seconds Before Death

For a years, the last words spoken by people before their death have been considered to be of high importance as they represent the final mark they leave on the living world. Today, with the prevalence of technology and media, it’s not wholly uncommon for a person’s final moments to be captured visually. This list takes a look at 10 truly haunting photos that chronicle the very final moments of people’s lives, whether they were aware of that fact or not.

10. Maqsood Khan

In 2014, 20-year-old Maqsood Khan, who may have been suffering from a mental condition, jumped over the enclosure to the white tiger den at the New Delhi zoo in India.  For 15 horrifying minutes the tiger sat and glared at the young man who appeared to be praying.  When bystanders started throwing rocks at the tiger to distract it, the animal attacked poor Maqsood, dragging him around the enclosure and finally killing him.  It took more than two hours for officials to corral the animal into a cage before they could recover the body.

9.   TransAsia Airways Flight 235

This haunting still shot from a dashcam video captures the moment that TransAsia Airways Flight 235 crashed into Taipei’s Keelung River on February 4, 2015. Two minutes after taking off from the Taipei airport the pilots reported an engine flameout.  In a panic, the pilots mistakenly – and fatally – shut off the lone working engine. The airplane then banked sharply left clipping a taxi traveling over the Huandong Viaduct before hitting the viaduct itself with its left wing.

8 The 9/11 jumper

The 9/11 attacks will forever go down as a pivotal moment in history.

This heartbreaking photo shows an unidentified jumper on his descent from one of the upper floors of the tower. Many victims of the attack chose to jump to certain death rather than face the incredible heat of the flames from inside, a terrifying choice that is almost impossible to imagine.

7. Pavel Kashin,

Pavel Kashin, who would often perform jaw-dropping stunts with friends in dangerously high places. Despite being somewhat well-known for his amazing talents in freerunning, Kashin unfortunately made a fatal error during one sessionThis photo captures Pavel Kashin last parkour leap. In 2013 Kashin, a well-known Parkour expert and free runner, was trying to do a back flip against the wall. With his friends filming the leap, Kashin lost his balance and plunged 16 stories to his death.

6. The Leopard attack 

In July 2012 this leopard escaped the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal and terrorized the nearby village of Limbu.  A full scale operation was assembled to track down the leopard and apprehend it before it could kill or maim innocent bystanders. This photo shows the moment right after one of the forest guards threw a stone into the bushes where the leopard was believed to be hiding.  Suddenly, the leopard let out a deafening roar and lunged at a passing guard who unwisely had his back turned to the wild animal.

5 Joseph Avery

In this remarkable photo from 1853, a man named Joseph Avery can be seen desperately clinging to a log in the middle of the Niagara River. Avery was part of a group of three men that were boating along the river, their vessel losing control in the strong current and smashing into a rock.
Avery’s two companions were carried straight to their death over the waterfall, but Avery was able to scramble onto a log that was caught between two rocks. After holding on for eighteen hours, Avery managed to climb onto a rescue boat that was guided downriver. Unfortunately, the boat capsized almost immediately, tossing Avery straight into the river and over the falls.

4. Mandy K

In 2009 a woman by the name of Mandy K stunned onlookers when she jumped into the polar bear pen at the Berlin Zoo. Mandy was horribly mauled by the polar bear, but luckily was able to recover from her injuries.

After the incident Mandy’s ex-husband revealed that she had been depressed over not being able to find work. While the jump into the bear enclosure may have been a suicide attempt, that did stop not the zoo from pressing charges against Mandy for breaching the peace

3 Photographing your own killer

If you look on the left side of this remarkable photo you’ll see a man pointing a gun at the camera. The person taking the photo of his daughter, wife and mother-in-law was Filipino politician Reynaldo Dagsa.
What he didn’t know is that he also captured the gang member who was about to kill him. Dagsa died at the scene but the three relatives in the photo were not hurt.

2. stingray 

In general, sting rays are gentle creatures, preferring to stay by themselves and out of the way of humans. But every once in awhile they attach themselves to a human and that human understandingly freaks out.

While this woman was not harmed, the look on her face certainly shows the horror she feels to have a stingray on her back.

1. Paul warker

This is the final picture taken of movie icon Paul Walker, star of the Fast and the Furious series. In this photo Walker is seen getting into the Porsche Carrera GT that he was in when he was killed.