Belgium and Holland in mourning

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Belgium and Holland are in mourning today ! 

We are all deeply sadned by the tragic loss of so many young lives at the bus accident in Sierre - Switzerland.

So many lives devistated... so many dreams shattered... so many...

Strength and comfort to all affected...


 

[fleurbleue]

A so sad event...

[ashley]

What great strength it must take to travel from home all the way to a Swiss morgue to identify your 12-year old daughter or son.

Such a tragedy.  Our thoughts are with the families, friends and whole communities affected.

[ranunculus]

This 'European' tragedy touches us all ... our thoughts are with you all.

[Paul T]

I hope they work out what happened.  At least the driver was not apparently speeding.  My thoughts are with everyone involved.  Truly awful thing to happen, particularly with predominantly children involved.

[Michael J Campbell]

Such an awful tragedy, our thoughts and prayers  are with you all.

[Maggi Young]

The shock wave for such a terrible accident is being felt far beyond the poor families directly affected.
No parent should have to lose a child, let alone in such awful circumstances.
One can only hope the parents can gain strength from somewhere and get through this.

[Lesley Cox]

I would like to send my heart-felt sympathies to all our Belgium members, and to their friends and fellow country-men and women, especially the parents, of the children and teachers who were so tragically killed this last week, in that appalling coach crash. From the TV pictures we saw, it's hard to imagine a worse mess and one which has caused so much sorrow and distress amongst the families involved.

So many horrible things are happening in the world at present. How the American people can cope with their dreadful hurricanes and tornadoes I can't imagine, yet they seem to take it all philosphically and pick themselves up with great courage and determination to restart their lives. We saw on our TV a couple of nights ago, the Japanese east coast tsunami filmed by the people as the escaped from the advancing water and debris. It put our NZ disasters in some sort of perspective.

Just on Thursday night a fishing boat capsized off the south coast of NZ and only a single survivor has been found. For these, except the 7-year-old boy on board, I can find little sympathy at all. As almost always is the case when professional fishermen are involved here, no lifejackets were worn. When so many bad outcomes are inevitable in natural disasters, it defies belief that basic life-saving precautions are not taken when they so easily could be.

Whatever the cause of the Swiss coach crash, my heart goes out to those sorrowing people who have lost their precious children.

[Paul T]

I very much agree, Lesley.  The severity of the tornadoes at present in the US is shown on our news here as well.

In case you haven't seen it, there is also the following topic on the coach accident......  Belgium and Holland in Mourning

[Lesley Cox]

Yes I saw it after posting my note Paul and asked Maggi to move mine to the appropriate place but, poor lady, she'll be sleeping the sleep of the just - and over worked. Maybe in the morning.


(Edit by maggi :  all moved together now.... yes, I've been sleeping.)

[Paddy Tobin]

This is a frightful time for so many families and for the community in Belgium; beyond the experience of most of us. We can only express sympathy and hope for the best for these people.

Paddy

[Anthony Darby]

Another community is going to share 13th March as a memory of unfathomable tragedy for children.