Hatrack River Forum: Train-Bus Accident in Sri Lanka

This is topic Train-Bus Accident in Sri Lanka in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :

Holy Crap.

[Eek!]

quid?

Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :

quote:
The accident occurred at 8:35 a.m. (2:35 a.m. GMT) Wednesday in the small town of Plogahawela, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, along the Colombo-Kandy rail line.

I don't think Quid lives around there, so hopefully she and Fahim are ok.

Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :

Yeah, I couldn't remember where they lived, they're the only folks I know of in Sri Lanka, so I figured I'd check in.

And usually I wake up in the morning and find her posts made while I was asleep. [Razz]

Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :

That's true. She has been kind of absent...

Quid?

Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :

Actually, she does live close to Columbo -- but east, I think, not North. She told me once, and I looked it up on a world map...

Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :

Fahim posted in the support forum for his Blog software overnight, about 4 am Chicago time. The Tribune story about the accident doesn't say when the accident took place.

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :

I was asleep, as was Fahim, which is why it took me until now to respond to this thread, which I had to hunt to find, but thankfully, I received an email giving me a heads up. I'm still so barely awake that I'm still incoherent, but that's because I'm barely awake, not injury or anything.

I had no idea about it until the email from Hatrack and my brother.

So, um, yeah, we're fine. Now I'll have to find out what happened. After I make brekkie. Fahim's a hungry growly bear. [Big Grin]

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

Glad you're okay. But oh, dear. That's not good news. [Frown]

Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :

Whew.

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :

Alright, I'm a little more alert now. Brekkie beside me, getting ready to face the day.

I've been a little absent because my sister, her husband, and their children were here. [Big Grin]

They left last night to fly back to Canada, so we got to bed late. And yesterday was a pretty busy day filled with everyone but me going shopping for things like luggage and movies, and then when they got back, it was time to finish with the laundry and then pack up their many suitcases. Four people x (2 checked bags each + 2 carryon pieces each) = 16 bags. They wound up one under the limit because of all the stuff they left behind. They're coming back in September on their way to the Maldives where brother in law will be working again.

And we had to watch a movie last night, too. White Chicks. Bad make up jobs, but good for a few laughs.

So that's for all the ignoring Hatrack a bit lately. [Big Grin]

(My four year old nephew is the cutest little boy who ever did live, and my 14 year old niece is just the coolest!)

Now, on to trains.

Yep, we live east of Colombo. Look for Sri Jayawardenapura on a map, east of Colombo, and we live east of there by a few minutes. We technically live in a village off the beaten track - no train lines, no highways (such as they are here) close to us.

Having said that, sister et al took the train to Kandy a week and a half ago, and returned last Monday. Fahim and I were supposed to go with them (and return early because he has to work), but my earache ruled that out (changes in elevation combined with ear pain=bad idea.) Fahim and I will probably go in a month or so.

It sounds like it was caused by an idiot bus driver, which is unfortunately all too common here. We have narrow roads in poor condition combined with railway lines that haven't been maintained, and that makes things like this even more likely to happen. It's unfortunate.

Thanks for the heads up.