Thursday, February 08, 2007

Strange and Sad

BBC News - China bridegroom dies with guests
Li Zhimin was returning from his wedding with 31 friends and family when the small truck he was driving veered off a road and plummeted 80m (262 feet) down a cliff amid poor weather.

Sixteen other passengers are being treated in hospital for injuries, with six in a critical condition.

It is not yet known whether the bride was one of the victims.

[. . .]

"The truck was only allowed to carry four people, but the actual passenger number was eight times more," Liu Xiangdong said.
It is certainly sad to hear that anyone dies on their wedding day. It is both sad and strange, at least to me, that they don't know if the bride is alive or dead. It is even stranger that their were 32 people in a 4 passenger truck. The article end by pointing out:
China has the deadliest roads in the world, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Official estimates say 100,000 die on China's roads every year but the WHO says the road toll is double this figure.
I wonder if that statistic is truly indicative of the condition of the roads or simply a function of the sheer volume of people who are likely traveling on them.

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