Bus crash

Yesterday wasnt a great day.

I left Senga Bay in the morning and jumped in the back of a pick-up truck for the short drive to Salima.  I was hoping to connect there with a bus going north to Nykata Bay. The bus I wanted was full so I waited two hours for the next one which was one of the big national AXA buses that take about a hundred passengers.

I settled into reading my book so I missed seeing what caused the accident and all I remember was the bus driver swerving violantly to avoid crashing into a truck that had stopped suddenly in the road. The bus veered into the other lane and onto the gravel to the side of the road before coming to a stop. You could hear the collective a sigh of relief from all the passengers shortly followed by the gasps as we looked back out of the window to see a woman lying by the side of the road. She wasnt moving.

The two drivers and two other men jumped out of the bus, ran over to the lady, picked her up and carried her back to the bus and laid her on the floor by the drivers booth. We then sped off down the road just as a mob was forming and someone with a knife was threatening to kill the driver. 

Apparantly its the law that after an accident you have to take anyone injured with you and go to the police station first to file a report. So thats what we did. After going to the station at Nkotokota we then went to the hospital where the woman was pronounced dead.

After about ten minutes we drove back to the police station where we all got off the bus. There was only one door so we all had to step through the blood that had poured onto the floor. The driver was arrested.

After answering questions we were allowed to leave so I checked into a small place nearby called Sitima Inn. Today there was a big funeral procession in town.

Im not sure who was at fault. From where I was sitting at the back of the bus it seemed as though the driver averted a crash into the truck or into a building. One thing I can say is that the roads around here are like a magnet for the locals and there is always a long string of people walking on the sides of the road so that if a car, bus or truck does suddenly come off the road then its almost certain that someone is going to be hit. Accidents like this happen every day over here.

The average life expectancy in Malawi is only forty-something. I realised today that I just take it for granted that I will live until I am eighty-something. I wont take it for granted any more.

Im catching the ferry tonight to Likoma and Chizimulu islands. The ferry is only once a week so I doubt I will be in touch until back on the mainland.

Until next time…