Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Lao Wai]

Hi,

I'm sure you've already heard about this tragedy if you're from Canada, especially the East Coast of Canada. I, for one, cannot stop thinking about it. This is probably because it hits so close to home (I'm from small town NB) and because I'm a teacher. I just think of all my students and how it could have easily been one of them. I know there are a lot of terrible things going on all over the world, but this is home.

For those of you who don't know, last week, a van full of high school basketball players from Bathurst, New Brunswick (a rural community) were traveling home from an away game in the team van when they hit an icy patch and slid into the path of a transport truck. Seven of the boys were killed instantly. The coach's wife was also killed instantly. The coach was driving and his daughter was in the van as well. The daughter and and other boys were not critically injured. What's even more horrible about this story is that the van was only 5 minutes away from reaching its destination. Also, it was one of the boys' birthdays. The team had just sung happy birthday to him just minutes before the accident. Another of the boys will be buried on his birthday.

There was a televised group funeral on tv today that was held in the civic centre. Almost 6000 people attended. The last time I remember being that choked up watching something on tv was during 9/11 (I'm not equating the two, just my own personal reaction). In the past 6 months (the length of time I've been back in Canada), I believe there have been about 16 deaths of young people in my region due to traffic accidents. I don't remember this many young people dying from car accidents when I was their age (10 years ago).

Anyway, If you want to read more about the story, here are some links:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/01/12/nb-crash.html?ref=rss

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/01/16/bathurst-funeral.html

[theatrelily]

Thanks for posting the links.

I am from Bathurst and was greatly saddened by the news of this accident.

It's a hard hit to a small, close-knit community. The town has already lost a lot in the wake of the sudden closing of the mill a while back.

My thoughts go out to the families and to the community.