Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Bad news

I am getting used to seeing horrible images when I watch the news in Ghana. If there are any accidents or murders, the bodies are very often shown. I thought the worst thing I had seen so far was a dead baby found floating in a big gutter at Circle in Accra. But today there was reportage on the frequent car accidents in the country, showing very disturbing pictures of the accident sites and victims. One particular accident had 14 dead, and the bodies lay in a pile on the ground, and you could clearly see their injuries. But the disturbing part is yet to come. The dead were later thrown onto a pick-up truck, like bags of garbage are thrown into the bola car. It looked like a war scene and I got a feeling I was watching images from the genocide in Rwanda. In a country where death is taken very very seriously, and the funerals are lavish and extravagant and a lot of care is put into celebrate the life of the dead person, I found it extremely amazing that dead people can be handled with such carelessness. I accept the fact that the accident happened somewhere where they couldn’t get hold of ambulances or such to transport the dead, but still. You don’t have to throw them.

I just had to get this off my chest, even if its not very pleasant reading. Kafra.

1 comment:

The Author said...

Yes, it is not pleasant reading (though your writing style was crisp and enjoyable). But sometimes we need to use shock-language to get people to their senses. I have seen similar scenes many times and wondered to myself the same questions you've asked.