Europe's Alpine tragedies

Sad topic, but did you notice how bizzare it was for the three tragedies in Europe's Alps to all happen this winter? They all happened within a couple months of each other in nearby locations in the Swiss and Austrian Alps, I think. I don't remember the order they happened, but I think it went like this.

First, there were 20-30 people killed when the Gondula they were riding up a mountain plummeted to the ground after it's cable was snapped by a US fighter pilot flying too low.

Second, there were 20-30 people killed at the base of a mountain by an avalanche. I think it was one of the deadliest avalanche's in modern European history.

Third, there were 20-30 car passengers killed in a tunnel going from France to Switzerland. I think the tunnel is one of the longest in Europe, or the world. A truck crashed in the tunnel and exploded into a fireball, burning the people in nearby cars to death.

It just seems so unlikely for all these freak accidents to happen all during the same winter in the same general area. Also, it must be bad for skiing tourism in the Alps. Think of it...if you aren't killed in a tunnel driving there, then you might be killed by an avalanche at the base of the mountains, or you might be killed by a low flying plane on your gondula trip up the mountain!

The jet-gondula mishap happened in Northern Italy, but that is near the Austrian and Swiss Alps, so it is near where the other two accidents happened.

Yeah, freak accidents.. hmmm.. mountains.. tunnels.. avalanches.. gondulas (sic).. funny these things happen around those pesky mountains, eh?

Note to self - When in the Alps, avoid crowds of 20-30 people.

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The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. -- E. Grebenik

Nickrz, it is higly improbable for all those accidents to happen in the same vicinity in the same winter. The gondula-plane accident has never happened before anywhere. Of course, killer avalances and tunnel fires are not unheard of but they are unusual, and highly unlikely to happen in nearby locations and time periods. They are freak accidents, just like you.

Heehee. Thanks, Cg.. that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day. Oh.. saw they had another tunnel fire in Austria yesterday - automobiles ran into a paint truck being used during road construction. One might be tempted to call these accidents "typical" rather than "freak" (with the exception of the gondola thing).

Not that strange that the events have been clustered - that's probability for you. Same thing happens with airplane accidents. Some years you have no major accidents, others you'll have several.

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Mastery is not perfection but a journey, and the true master must be willing to try and fail and try again

I was driving back from the south of Germany yesterday and the news on the radio said that only one person was killed in the tunnel accident, a German lorry driver, all the others were injured.

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It only hurts when I laugh.

http://www.msnbc.com/msn/285739.asp

GRENOBLE, France, July 1 — A cable car crashed to the ground early Thursday at a resort town in the French Alps, killing all 20 people aboard, officials said.

[MadHatter]

Just thought I would bump this thread up, seeing as it was sitting at THE VERY END of the very long line of threads that has ever been posted on MPSIMS.

Another interesting thing to notice if you ever venture WAY down to the end of MPSIMS, is that almost all of the threads have more POSTS then VIEWS. WTF?

[casdave]

In the tunnel fire a biker managed to pillion several people to safety but unfortunately he went back once too often.