Malasi, the scholastic in his second year of regency, was returning home by bus to Dodoma from Dar es Salaam, where he was doing some work for OLQP. The buses here are very unsafe -- drivers racing on a road that is not divided without limited access. (You know where this is going, I'm sure.) He was on a bus that was racing another. The other bus was passing a third on a two-lane highway and the bus he was on was in hot pursuit. Well...the bus ahead of his, trying to overtake the third, managed to do so -- but it was blocking the view of the following bus. And there was oncoming traffic -- a truck.
Instead of a head-on collision, the driver chose to rear-end the vehicle going forward in his direction -- it bisected the bus. One passenger was declared dead on-site; others died at the hospital. Many others lost limbs. Malasi was unscathed. Thank God.
Not only do the reckless drivers make me angry, but also a detail of the story makes me angry. Malasi had things stolen from his bag while he was waiting for help after the accident. And not only that: a man who was pinned in his seat had his phone stolen from his pocket by a thief while pinned! No shame whatsoever.
Not only am I thankful Malasi is safe; I must say that given all my bus travel the last weeks, I'm happy to have arrived home safely. I don't know when I'll be ready to ride a bus again.
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