Thursday, January 26, 2006
Bus crash in the Andes
12-31-05
I returned to Huancayo the day after I met with the consul. I had carefully analyzed the situation and determined that the danger had passed.
After I bought a bus ticket for 50 soles, my sister in law called me. Some friends of her husband (Jorge and Angel) were going to drive to Huancayo that night - and he arranged for me to go with them I hurried to pack my things, and waited for them to arrive. We left Lima about 6:00 PM on December 30. Unfortunately, it was still rush hour, and the roads were extremely congested until we were well out of Lima.
Since it was a holiday weekend, there was an unusually heavy police presence on the highway. As we ascended the mountains toward Ticlio, in nearly every sharp curve we saw a patrol car hiding. At one point the police had set up a random checkpoint, and we had to stop. I closed my eyes and pretended to be sleeping so they wouldn't see my blue eyes and ask us for money. Fortunately, Jorge had all of his papers in order, and so we were able to continue without problems. Jorge later explained that the police do these things to make some extra money for the holidays. If there is anything out of order, a few soles can usually resolve it on the spot.
Jorge and Angel work with my brother-in-law Willy. They are mining engineers. As we ascended the Andes to Ticlio, they told me a story about each mine that we passed. In one case they said that two American companies had purchased a mine; one purchased the rights above ground, and the other below ground. Since the two companies couldn't work together, in typical American style, everything is tied up in court - and the mine sits idle.
As we approached Ticlio everything the sky was cloudy, and there was a lot of fog. I asked Jorge that to stop if we found a place where the sky was clear - I wanted to have a chance to see the stars in the Southern Hemisphere. We had an opportunity about half an hour after leaving Ticlio. We stopped at a store (that was closed), and I got out. The air was very cold, very clear and very thin. We were probably at about 14,000 feet. The stars were not just bright, but abundant. Here in Beavercreek on a clear night you see "a lot of stars." Near Ticlio, every area that in Oregon would be black is milky white with stars. It is truly impressive. The scientists say that our galaxy contains billions of stars, and in a place like that you can see that they are not exaggerating.
We continued on the carretera for about another hour. There in the dark I could see headlights that were not moving. As we drew near, the scene became clear: a passenger bus (greyhound) and a mining truck had collided. Over the protests of Angel and Jorge I jumped out of the car to see what was happening. I took a picture of the bus and some people - and then I realized that the situation was serious. I gave Jorge everything in my pockets, so I wouldn't be robbed, and began to evaluate the situation.
I came across a group of people in a circle in the middle of the road. It seemed that they were arguing, but not doing anything productive. I could hear people crying, so it irritated me to see these people wasting their time trying to figure out who was at fault. I screamed at them several times, "shut up! Let's help the injured." Finally, they all became quiet, and dispersed. At least they were no longer blocking the road.
(This image appeared the next day on the front page of Correo, one of the daily papers in Huancayo. It says, "Bus crashed with trailer in Jauja. TRAGEDY AT THE END OF THE YEAR. Accident leaves one dead and four left injured on the last day of 2005.")
There was a gasoline truck stopped near the accident. I asked the driver if his tank was full. He said that it was. So I told him, "well then, it's better that you get out of here." At that, he began passing the accident scene. A few minutes later I discovered that another group had stopped him, to make him tow the bus out of the road. (In retrospect, that was a good thing. It was important to open the carretera. If it were blocked, the traffic jamb would interfere with the arrival of help.)
(These were some of the people on the bus.)
As I was walking back, I heard crying. I climbed down an embankment and found a woman, her son and a baby sitting in the dark. The woman told me that her baby was hurt, but that her arm was broken and she couldn't care for the baby. I took the baby, told the woman to follow me, and climbed up the embankment. In the headlights of the bus I was able to inspect the baby. At first it appeared to be severely injured, but on closer inspection, I realized that the injuries were nothing serious. I saw Angel passing by and gave him the baby.
A few minutes later I returned to the car. Jorge rightly convinced me that we had to go somewhere to call for help. As we drove away I reset the trip meter so that we could measure the distance to the accident. Thirty kilometers later, in the town of Jauja, we were finally able to make a call.
Jorge called the police, explained the situation, and their response was "it's not my jurisdiction." Unbelievable! But Jorge, calmly asked for the phone number of the precinct with jurisdiction, and called them. After explaining the situation we proceeded to Huancayo. We arrived about 2:00 AM.
Paty was worried, and when I ran the bell, she answered instantly. It was understandable, after all, supposedly we were supposed to leave Lima at 4:30 PM and arrive before midnight. Besides that, she had ridden with Jorge, and when she heard that I was going to go from Lima to Huancayo with him, she was scared. His reputation precedes him. But in my case, he drove well. Of course, since I'm used to riding in Taxis in Lima, almost anything seems tranquil to me. Paty gave me something to eat, and I told her my story. What an adventure!
I returned to Huancayo the day after I met with the consul. I had carefully analyzed the situation and determined that the danger had passed.
After I bought a bus ticket for 50 soles, my sister in law called me. Some friends of her husband (Jorge and Angel) were going to drive to Huancayo that night - and he arranged for me to go with them I hurried to pack my things, and waited for them to arrive. We left Lima about 6:00 PM on December 30. Unfortunately, it was still rush hour, and the roads were extremely congested until we were well out of Lima.
Since it was a holiday weekend, there was an unusually heavy police presence on the highway. As we ascended the mountains toward Ticlio, in nearly every sharp curve we saw a patrol car hiding. At one point the police had set up a random checkpoint, and we had to stop. I closed my eyes and pretended to be sleeping so they wouldn't see my blue eyes and ask us for money. Fortunately, Jorge had all of his papers in order, and so we were able to continue without problems. Jorge later explained that the police do these things to make some extra money for the holidays. If there is anything out of order, a few soles can usually resolve it on the spot.
Jorge and Angel work with my brother-in-law Willy. They are mining engineers. As we ascended the Andes to Ticlio, they told me a story about each mine that we passed. In one case they said that two American companies had purchased a mine; one purchased the rights above ground, and the other below ground. Since the two companies couldn't work together, in typical American style, everything is tied up in court - and the mine sits idle.
As we approached Ticlio everything the sky was cloudy, and there was a lot of fog. I asked Jorge that to stop if we found a place where the sky was clear - I wanted to have a chance to see the stars in the Southern Hemisphere. We had an opportunity about half an hour after leaving Ticlio. We stopped at a store (that was closed), and I got out. The air was very cold, very clear and very thin. We were probably at about 14,000 feet. The stars were not just bright, but abundant. Here in Beavercreek on a clear night you see "a lot of stars." Near Ticlio, every area that in Oregon would be black is milky white with stars. It is truly impressive. The scientists say that our galaxy contains billions of stars, and in a place like that you can see that they are not exaggerating.
We continued on the carretera for about another hour. There in the dark I could see headlights that were not moving. As we drew near, the scene became clear: a passenger bus (greyhound) and a mining truck had collided. Over the protests of Angel and Jorge I jumped out of the car to see what was happening. I took a picture of the bus and some people - and then I realized that the situation was serious. I gave Jorge everything in my pockets, so I wouldn't be robbed, and began to evaluate the situation.
I came across a group of people in a circle in the middle of the road. It seemed that they were arguing, but not doing anything productive. I could hear people crying, so it irritated me to see these people wasting their time trying to figure out who was at fault. I screamed at them several times, "shut up! Let's help the injured." Finally, they all became quiet, and dispersed. At least they were no longer blocking the road.
(This image appeared the next day on the front page of Correo, one of the daily papers in Huancayo. It says, "Bus crashed with trailer in Jauja. TRAGEDY AT THE END OF THE YEAR. Accident leaves one dead and four left injured on the last day of 2005.")
There was a gasoline truck stopped near the accident. I asked the driver if his tank was full. He said that it was. So I told him, "well then, it's better that you get out of here." At that, he began passing the accident scene. A few minutes later I discovered that another group had stopped him, to make him tow the bus out of the road. (In retrospect, that was a good thing. It was important to open the carretera. If it were blocked, the traffic jamb would interfere with the arrival of help.)
(These were some of the people on the bus.)
As I was walking back, I heard crying. I climbed down an embankment and found a woman, her son and a baby sitting in the dark. The woman told me that her baby was hurt, but that her arm was broken and she couldn't care for the baby. I took the baby, told the woman to follow me, and climbed up the embankment. In the headlights of the bus I was able to inspect the baby. At first it appeared to be severely injured, but on closer inspection, I realized that the injuries were nothing serious. I saw Angel passing by and gave him the baby.
A few minutes later I returned to the car. Jorge rightly convinced me that we had to go somewhere to call for help. As we drove away I reset the trip meter so that we could measure the distance to the accident. Thirty kilometers later, in the town of Jauja, we were finally able to make a call.
Jorge called the police, explained the situation, and their response was "it's not my jurisdiction." Unbelievable! But Jorge, calmly asked for the phone number of the precinct with jurisdiction, and called them. After explaining the situation we proceeded to Huancayo. We arrived about 2:00 AM.
Paty was worried, and when I ran the bell, she answered instantly. It was understandable, after all, supposedly we were supposed to leave Lima at 4:30 PM and arrive before midnight. Besides that, she had ridden with Jorge, and when she heard that I was going to go from Lima to Huancayo with him, she was scared. His reputation precedes him. But in my case, he drove well. Of course, since I'm used to riding in Taxis in Lima, almost anything seems tranquil to me. Paty gave me something to eat, and I told her my story. What an adventure!
// posted by Jason y Paty @ 12:03 PM 
