The Tragedies Behind the Tragedies

Another pipeline fire was in the news recently. Many of you heard of it, I'm sure. What you would not hear are the pathetic details that accompany each news event here. So, I'll fill in the blanks for you ... at least a bit.

We are fine. The fire was on the mainland in Lagos and we are on the little islands of Victoria and Ikoyi, just south and east of the mainland. (Our world is small, indeed! About 5 kms from north end to south end!) The majority of the 18 million who live in Lagos live on the mainland.

A contractor was digging with heavy equipment without any knowledge of a gas/fuel pipeline in the area.

The pipe was damaged and fuel starting spilling out everywhere. For about 3 hours the neighbors grabbed anything resembling a container and hauled escaping fuel away!

There was a school nearby and reports are that the teachers told the children to remain inside to stay safe.

Reports vary on this part but ... something, possibly an okada (motor cycle) that drove into the area, ignited the gas and suddenly explosions and fire abounded.

Somewhere around 3 hours into the fire episode, reports are that some fire trucks arrived on the scene. 7 of them, even. But only two of the trucks had any water. The other five were there to impress. Mmmmmmmm ... At last report, the fire is still burning. Fuel fires are tough to control at the source. Burning buildings require more than a couple of gallons of water to be contained.

Reports again vary but 100 to 200 people are dead and many are in hospital (the British way to say "in the hospital"). Somewhere around 90 of the dead are the school children that were told to stay indoors to keep "safe." My driver heard that they died from the smoke.

Truth will never fully be discovered in this situation. Innocent people might be charged with crimes. In order to appease the neighbor people, the parents, the many who are shouting their anger in the streets ... the police often grab a few people from somewhere unknown, shoot them, and display their bodies as proof that the "guilty" have been avenged.

The value of a human life is seen differently here. Locals see dead bodies somewhere almost every day. They grieve ... but not much. Even for family members, there is very little grief and a lot of actual partying at the burials. (It's more like a reaction you would expect from followers of Jesus who only see their loss of a loved one as very temporary and rejoice that their loved one is worshiping the Lamb of God in person!)

There's a building that collapsed a couple of years ago near the airport. Bodies are still inside. No work has been done to clean up the mess. There was a car that burned on the highway near the turn off to our beach hut. We saw it a few weeks ago for the first time. Jide told us that this was the car in which a "sister" of his died. I think she's more of a cousin. I can't remember all of the details but the car was used as a taxi. The driver did something stupid and the car burst into flames. No one in the taxi survived. The charred remains of the car will be there, on the roadside, for a long time. No one wants to touch it.

So, that gives you a little more accuracy though we'll never know the full truth in these tragedies.