Tabora fatal recklesness

October 1 marked Idd el Fitr, a Moslem celebration of ending the month of Ramadhani where the faithful do fast for 28 moons. In Tanzania that day and following one are public holidays. These days are marked with overdressing, overeating and overdrinking in many communities. Dance hall reap, confectionery retailers alike. Fights and road accidents in the two days are commonplace.

What happened in Tabora is out of proportions, though. A dance hall was crammed with kids for afternoon boogie. It is said the capacity of that hall is 150, but on that eventful day, October 1st, it is said to have been packed with more than 1000!

Then something must have gone very wrong, but at the end of the day 19 kids were declared dead from suffocation. It would seem someone locked the dancehall entrance and drifted away for fun elsewhere when kids were having good time, then when air supply couldn't cope with close-packed kids, there may have been screams that were interpreted as fun itself. It seems after a while the place went eerily quiet--the younger ones (7 year olds were the youngest of victims, oldest were 14) slipped into unconsciousness. This may have been interpreted by their siblings as slumber before things grew worse. Meanwhile all were apparent prisoners here, the gatekeepers commonly referred as "bouncers" nowhere nearby.

I have heard how a person rescued from near-death caused by air foulness explains afterwards of having dreamed of happily floating around before being resusciated. Same stories were on papers, given by survivors who were interviewed. Three of the kids who perished were from one family, survived by recently-widowed father. I expect the bouncers who caused this have an explanation to give to Tanzanians.

It was a week. Palin blah-blahhed her way out of the VP debate (that I had hoped would see the end of her), Fosset crash site was discovererd, Tabora families grieved.