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.
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| 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:
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
