We are used to
the idea that it is usually the poor who suffer most from natural
disasters. They tend to live in less sturdy dwellings in more dangerous places, have poorer access to telecommunications
for warnings etc
But we have had
a reminder this week that they are also more likely to be victims of man-made
disasters. At least 53 people are known
to have been killed in a crash between a bus and a lorry about 60 miles north
of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka.
The accident
happened on a busy road as the bus was reportedly swerving to avoid an oncoming
vehicle. Roads in Zambia are often
poorly maintained and vehicles overloaded, but this is believed to have been
one of the worst accidents in the country’s history.
Meanwhile in
Bangladesh, a ferry capsized on the Meghna River, near the capital, Dhaka,
plunging scores of passengers into the water.
Only two bodies have so far been recovered, but up to 40 are
still missing. Ferry accidents are
common on the country’s vast river network.
In March last year, more than 112 people drowned when a ferry collided
with an oil tanker and sank also in the Meghna.
*My account of
the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840’s from A
Disastrous History of the World has been reproduced on this website. http://stravaganzastravaganza.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-irish-potato-famine_9376.html#!/2013/01/the-irish-potato-famine_9376.html
