An Accident

On Thursday, there was a bad accident involving one of the teachers' buses that transport our teachers that live in Ruwais (an hour away; two hours roundtrip) and Ghyathi (an hour-an-a-half away; three hours roundtrip) to and from school.

Our little town doesn't have enough housing to support all of our teachers, so they have to live in these next neighboring towns.  If they choose to live in Ruwais, it is shared accommodations (three people living in four bedroom/four bath apartments). If they want single housing, then they must commute another half hour further.

The saving grace is that transportation is provided.

I don't care how you slice it though, the commute is tough.

Usually the bus is full, with teachers and their kids.  Because it was a Thursday, several people had driven so they can get home earlier, resulting in just a handful on the bus.

Side note - Thank God, special arrangements were made for me to live locally.  I live alone in an apartment next door to my school.

The roads are almost always filled with caravans of trucks taking goods to and fro. There isn't a railroad in this country, so this is the only way we can get merchandise that we need.  Trucks and buses must drive in the right lane, with cars using either lane.

On Thursday, a bus carrying four teachers, ran into the back of an 18-wheeler that was either stopped or had slowed way down.  (Currently, there are no shoulders to move over on, as there is construction going on for hundreds of miles in both directions, widening the roads).

The driver was instantly killed, and one of the two teachers from my school is in critical condition.  He was airlifted to Abu Dhabi to the nearest trauma center.  The other two teachers were from the local high schools - one from the girls' and the other from the boys'.

I was coming home from an appointment in Abu Dhabi when I got the call.  Two people were taken to Ruwais Hospital, and the other two (including the critical man) were taken to local hospital here.

I stopped by the hospital in Ruwais to check on those folks.  Thankfully, their injuries were minor, and after a few hours, they were released.

Then I drove to my town with plans to stop by the hospital to see the other two teachers.

What I saw when I drove up was heartwarming.

There were hundreds of people, most of the town it looked like, who were holding vigil at the hospital.  Scores of men, standing in clusters in the parking lot, were giving updates to new arrivals as they headed towards the main entrance.  Women were lining the walls solemnly holding each other and praying.

It was like this for hours.

At 8:00 pm the helicopter arrived to transport the critical patient to the city.  It took a couple of hours to get him from the room to the helicopter.  But as he was being wheeled down the hospital corridors, scores and more of men surrounded the bed and walked out with him.  When they got outdoors, the number grew even more.

It was an incredible sight to see.

In tough times, people come together.

It's human nature, evident in places far and wide, all over the world.