A very good point is mentioned by Mrt in the comment. Marie Curie sacrificed her life to gift us the science of X-rays that would later save lives of millions. So, in such cases, telling it the experiments that went wrong or were failed is not good.
Now, if the experiments have gone wrong not just for the scientists but also for the rest of the world, as we see movies, they are popularly known as bizarre experiments. A wise man's advice is: Bizarre experiments should never be repeated.
But in your case, you want to tell that many lost their lives because experiments went in some other directions, it's safe to use a little phrase rather than going for a single word that may make it ambiguous.
Surprisingly, you wrote that answer in your question only!
A myriad of scientists endeavored and even some of them sacrificed their lives due to/through accidents that happened during experiments that had gone wrong [sic].
It's up to you to use any adjective; for instance, shocking experiments that went wrong.