Communication and looking for the truth

Last Saturday a train derailed in a city less than 10 miles from my home. It was a freight train with 13 wagons. After the derailment, three of the wagons carrying acrylonitrile exploded and caught fire.

Demo - Photo taken in 2009 - Copyright Marleen Hallaert 2009

After that we heard the following in press conferences:

• there are no wounded
• the smoke and vapor are not poisonous
• the derailment is because of poor maintenance of the tracks
• the derailment is not because of poor maintenance of the tracks
• the driver was driving too fast
• the driver was not driving too fast
• there are 3 casualties
• there is 'only' one casualty
• the casualty has nothing to do with the explosion nor the fire
• the vapor and smoke is dangerous
• we need an evacuation
• the casualty is a direct result of the accident
• the deceased cannot be taken out of his home because it is too dangerous for the first aid workers
• there are 17 wounded people
• there are more wounded people (49)
• the evacuated can go home
• the evacuated went home
• the evacuated who were at home are re-evacuated
• there are 102 people in the hospital
• everybody near the accident should remove all food stuff from their homes
• the driver did not have certification to drive in Belgium
• the driver did have certification to drive in Belgium
• the cows near the accident can still remain in their pasture, no problem
• people in the village should not eat any fruits or vegetables from their garden
• the governor blames the miscommunication to Murphy's law
• a toxicologist went public to warn the population
• the governor responded there are 'other toxicologists'
• people in neighbouring villages should not eat vegetables or fruits from their garden
• it is safe for the people in the neighbouring villages to consume the fruits and vegetables out of their garden
• Today, May 8, it is confirmed that people in the perimeter will not be allowed to go to their homes before May 18
• the train is still there, it is not safe to remove the remaining wagons
• Fishing is not allowed in part of the Scheldt, because of the toxicity of the extinguishing water which was released in the Scheldt.

It has been a terrible week already, miscommunication, non-communication, trying to find some truth in all the garbled messages.

And today, the local police issued the following status update:

"People, stop asking the same questions - read the communication. If we are not knocking at your door to evacuate, you are safe for the moment! If you feel anything, call 101."

Sad world.

Marleen