fatality

A fatality is an event or situation that results in death, especially when it's unexpected. It can also refer to a large number of deaths from a particular cause.

When we talk about fatalities in everyday life, we usually use this word in situations where there are many accidents or tragedies at the same time, like a plane crash, a natural disaster, or an epidemic. For example, if there are multiple car accidents on a highway and several people die, news outlets might report that there were several fatalities. In other cases, the term can refer to one single death that's particularly tragic or surprising, such as a celebrity dying suddenly.