An Accidental Death
Screech! Crash! The awful twin sounds of braking tyres and rending mental accompanied by the tinkle of glass that proclaims a road accident was heard above the hubbub of street noises - the call of vendors, the hoot of horns, the incessant chatter of pedestrians and, from a distance, there came the heart-breaking cry of someone in extreme agony - then complete silence. Just for that moment, that fraction of a second, time stood still and all was hushed and mute.Anxious faces turned immediately towards the direction from where the fatal sound had emanated. After the initial shock and momentary silence, life quickly reasserted itself and the alert ones were galvanized into spontaneous action: they made a bee-line for the site of the accident. Their intention was to help; but they became a hindrance and obstructed those who were already on the spot. Their instincts had got the better of them, and, as with human nature, they wanted to look. The crowd milled around the stalled vehicles, pushing, squabbling, trying to get closer; but one look was enough. Holding their hands to their mouths, pale and ashen, they tried to get away from a sight apparently so ghastly, so repulsive, that just a glimpse was enough to cause nausea.
It was shocking! There was blood all over and pools were beginning to coagulate on the ground. Just able to be seen was what appeared to be the mangled remains of one of the occupants of an almost new Fiat car. How many others were in it was difficult to tell, for the twisted heap of metal prevented ascertaining the exact number of occupants and to extricate them seemed almost impossible. They were, a few moments before, living human being just like us enjoying all that life had to offer and now?
Officialdom swung into action: the ear-splitting sound of a siren was heard and a policeman emerged as though out of nowhere, followed soon after by an ambulance. The area was cordoned off and the curious spectators were shepherded away. It was only then that the police and medical staff were able to get down to their work. The wreckage was lifted by a crane, the bodies carefully removed. Then, not long afterwards, the wailing of the ambulance siren faded away on a tragic note into the distance - a pathetic end!
Do we really care about these unfortunates? Perhaps, just to say, “Poor souls!” They are soon forgotten and we continue our lives as though nothing has happened. Do we pause to give a moment’s reflection on how their near and dear ones are affected, a wife widowed, and children orphaned and a breadwinner no more? Each one of us is prone to sudden death. Who can tell when death will suddenly call?
The crowd dispersed, the congested traffic unwound itself as it by-passed the tangled mass of twisted metal a grim reminder of calamity that can affect each one of us unexpectedly as this one had done. In the confusion and chaos there was no thought of blame, but as one of the pedestrians moved off, he remarked, “I wondered how it had happened.”
By: Sonam Penjor, Thimphu. Source Courtesy: KUENSEL