One of the many hard-working industrial plants in China was the 101 Petro Chemical Plant, which was situated at Jilin City, the capital of China's Jilin Province. In 2005, a chain reaction of explosions inside the plant ripped it to shreds, tearing the plant into pieces and decimating everything around it.
The force of the explosion meant that survival for those close to it was impossible. Six people were killed instantly, dozens were injured, and ten thousand civilians had to be evacuated for their own safety. The shattered plant leaked over one hundred tons of polluting chemicals out into the land, seeping into the Songhua River. In among the compounds were both benzene and nitro-benzene. They would have killed all of the life in that stretch of the river fairly quickly, but the impact on humans is still being felt to this day. The chemicals together can reduce the white blood cell count in the human body, significantly increasing the risk of leukemia.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.