TMID Editorial: A week of tragedies
It has been a terrible week of tragedies.Four people have had their life cut short in tragic circumstances, and when such happenings occur within a few days, it’s as if a message is being sent to the whole of society to be more careful –
It has been a terrible week of tragedies.
Four people have had their life cut short in tragic circumstances, and when such happenings occur within a few days, it’s as if a message is being sent to the whole of society to be more careful – and to take care of each other.
Last Saturday, a woman died when the quadbike she was riding ended up toppling over a cliff into the sea, according to a police. The accident happened in the limits of Gharb.
Two days before, a man who was assembling scaffolding in St Julian’s died of an electric shock.
On that same day, the police informed the media that two other men had died in hospital a few days after suffering serious injuries in separate accidents. A biker who had crashed in Cirkewwa and an elderly man who had been injured in a gas explosion in Swieqi succumbed to their injuries.
They were four accidental deaths that have left four families and four sets of friends and acquaintances without a loved one. Two died in traffic accidents, one at the place of work and the other in a garage of a residence. Apart from these, there were other accidents which led to serious or grievous injuries – each time a press statement is received from the police’s communications office, there is always that fear that someone else had died in an accident, or had been seriously hurt.
It is easy to speak of numbers and, unfortunately, we have noticed that the number of traffic and occupational fatalities grows quite frequently. Each time the National Statistics Offices issues statements giving out numbers, or each end of year when the media draws up reports on what took place in the previous 12 months, the focus is on the “how many” and, sadly, the number always seems high.
But behind each number, apart from the victim himself or herself, there are other people who were certainly shocked by the tragedy because they were relatives or close friends to the deceased. And there is also a whole society that should take heed of the hidden message behind every tragedy in the hope that there will be no repetition. When, then, the victim is in the prime of their life, it is even harder to accept.
We all know that accidents happen. But we should be doing our utmost to limit the chances of them taking place. We should all be more careful in what we do on the road, in our homes and in our workplaces, particularly those where the possibility of something going awry is much higher than when sitting behind a desk in an office.
And it should never go amiss that one should draw attention to situations that could potentially be dangerous. Experienced or more mature persons should always be at the ready to give a word of advice to others who may be too young or brazen to understand that all it takes is one moment of distraction for a serious accident to take place.
While we hope that the families and friends of the four people who died last week find solace and comfort in this difficult moment, we urge everyone to take extra care in whatever one is doing. More caution means a lower chance of an accident.
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