23 dead in crush for $4 handout

23 dead in crush for $4 handout

www.theaustralian.news.com.au

AT least 21 people were killed and scores more hurt when a crowd stampeded in Indonesia after about 10,000 people queued for a charity handout to mark the Muslim fasting month.

The crush happened in the East Java town of Pasuruan when a crowd of poor people were waiting for a donation, known as zakat, of 30,000 rupiah ($3.96) each from a wealthy family, the Antara state news agency said.

The Associated Press reported 23 fatalities.

(visit the link for the full news article)

More than 20 die in Indonesian charity queue crush



[edit on 15/9/08 by Shere Khaan]

This is a good time to look at what you have and remember that the majority of the world lives on less than $2 per day. What a completely pointless waste of life.

www.theaustralian.news.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by Shere KhaanWhat a completely pointless waste of life.

Exactly, people that have decent lifes in the west never count there blessings, always talking about what they do not have.

[edit on 9/15/2008 by andy1033]

That's less than 18 cents a person, and it's almost the same price as a military bullet these days.

[edit on 15-9-2008 by Ravinsomniac]

Am I supposed to feel sorry for these people, who considered $4 to be worth more than a human life, or am I supposed to feel sorry for the greediest of them who were stuck at the front when the back trampled them?

Even if someone was handing out my monthly wage slip in the street, I wouldn't be so frenzied as to crush, or get crushed, to death for it.

reply to post by C.C.Benjamin


Depends if you where hungry or not. You cannot say what you would not do in similar circumstances.

Many poor people in mostly Muslim Indonesia depend on these funds for several months.

[edit on 9/15/2008 by andy1033]

reply to post by C.C.Benjamin


That's nice, how about just feeling sorry that it happened. If you were starving you probably would have lined up too. Stampedes don't necessarily happen because people intentionally stampede, usually there are circumstances like choke points that make things worse.

The fact that people would risk a mob like this for $4 says a lot about our world.

This is a very sad story. What's worse is that every year here in the United States people trample and stampede others the day after thanksgiving for a cheap piece of electronics.

I must admit I am one of those people who got trampled on three years ago for this laptop I am typing on as we speak. I have learnt my lesson.

I do feel truly saddened by those starving and waiting for a hand out and their lives were lost because of that. I am, however even more saddened that we in the US do it for selfish reasons. I won't be doing that again. It's just sick what we will do for a sale when others are doing it to survive.

Originally posted by Shere Khaan
That's nice, how about just feeling sorry that it happened.

There are a lot of things I feel sorry about having happened in this world, and if I spent my life pining over them I'd never get anything done.

This said, a bunch of desperately selfish people trampling each other to death - not just once, but over twenty times! - is not something I have particularly fuzzy feelings about.

Originally posted by Shere KhaanIf you were starving you probably would have lined up too.

Indonesia has a higher HDI than Egypt, and is nearly on par with Iran.

reply to post by C.C.Benjamin



did you not see the quote in this article.

"Many poor people in mostly Muslim Indonesia depend on these funds for several months."

If the reporter does not know, i doubt you and i know about the circumstances of those who died.

Sad story, human desperation causes us to do things that are very regretable at times. I agree with all above who point out how lucky we are to live in the US, where you are allowed to educate yourself and work where you want, earn what you are capable of. There are 16 year olds all over america that earn enough to feed an indonesian family for a year on just a months pay!