I drove past a disaster half an hour after it happened today

[Archivist]

This morning, I was on my way to work with my business partner.  We entered the freeway, only to find the traffic slower than usual.

As we continued, traffic became slower and slower.  At first I thought it was a traffic accident, and was trying to gauge the speed of the different lanes to figure out where it had happened.

Police cars came screaming up through the traffic, making us pull aside to let them through.  Traffic came to a standstill, and that was when we saw the helicopters.

First there was only one.  Then two.  In total, there were  five helicopters, and traffic moved at a glacial rate.  It showed us that something bad was afoot, so I asked my business partner to look up breaking news on her phone.

She suddenly exclaimed that a plane had crashed into a major shopping centre that was on the edge of the freeway, only half an hour ago.  It was like a bomb went off, taking out a part of the building and sending debris flying on to the freeway.

We managed to get through before they closed off that section of the freeway.  But five people died in that crash, and cars were destroyed in the fire.  As we drove past the shopping centre, a cloud of smoke still hung in the air.

My heart goes out to the people who lost their lives, and their families.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-21/five-passenger-plane-crashes-near-melbournes-essendon-airport/8288964

[indianasmith]

That made the news here in Texas this morning.

[Trevor]

That made the news here in Texas this morning.

And here a while back: very sad.

[ER]

I once heard a plane crash. They're awful. Glad the timing was such that you were all right. Poor victims.

[sprite75]

Yeah I saw that too on the news this morning

A couple weeks ago we had a semi catch fire on the highway near the family farm.  My uncle had to take a tractor up to push the bales off so they could put them out.

[lester1/2jr]

me too I was driving by a skatepark! wakka wakka wakka (it's a trick)

[dean]

Considering I've been driving past that spot a ton this last week I'm suprised I wasn't in the area when it happened. The stupidest thing though is that since it happened near the freeway people were apparently stopping to have a look which is ridiculously stupid, especially since it's so busy in that spot most of the time.

[Archivist]

Considering I've been driving past that spot a ton this last week I'm suprised I wasn't in the area when it happened. The stupidest thing though is that since it happened near the freeway people were apparently stopping to have a look which is ridiculously stupid, especially since it's so busy in that spot most of the time.

It boggles my mind that people would stop to have a look at that crash.  For readers who don't know the area, the accident happened right on the edge of the a freeway.  It's a 80kph zone, which is about 50mph?  And it's a freeway, you don't stop on a freeway.

It was really surreal.  The depth of the tragedy didn't really strike me until the end of the day, when I was able to read the news reports.  At that time, all we could see was a conga-line of slow traffic, the sky filled with helicopters, police cars in abundance and a thin cloud of grey smoke over the building.

[Flangepart]

Oh, Lord...
I submit my sympathy, Compadre. Another reminder 'there but for the grace of God goes me."

[sprite75]

I just remembered, a few years ago there was a crash a couple miles from my house that killed a political candidate.  He was also a pilot and he was flying back home from a political event when he crashed.  It was on the same road my brother lived on so my Grandma kept asking if he had seen the crash.  It was about a mile away from his house.