Sevin, a Turkish friend of mine, had a
real scare the other day, when a bomb went off no more than 100m from
where she lives.
It reminded me of the only time in my life when I was close to a bomb explosion. I was on an assignment in Angola and had returned to the capital, Luanda. Walking along the Avenue Lenin, I passed the TAP (Portuguese Airlines) shop - closed, of course, like all the other shops in the city at that time.
I then crossed the road to the hotel where I was staying, moreorless opposite the TAP offices. I was in the foyer when there was an explosion outside. I had heard a bomb explosion before, so immediately ran to the back of the foyer, ie, away from the source of the blast, and took refuge behind a large marble pillar against the possibility of further explosions.
It reminded me of the only time in my life when I was close to a bomb explosion. I was on an assignment in Angola and had returned to the capital, Luanda. Walking along the Avenue Lenin, I passed the TAP (Portuguese Airlines) shop - closed, of course, like all the other shops in the city at that time.
I then crossed the road to the hotel where I was staying, moreorless opposite the TAP offices. I was in the foyer when there was an explosion outside. I had heard a bomb explosion before, so immediately ran to the back of the foyer, ie, away from the source of the blast, and took refuge behind a large marble pillar against the possibility of further explosions.
To my amazement, almost everyone else
in the hotel foyer ran outside TOWARDS the blast, either out of
curiosity, or because they didn't realise it was a bomb going off. It
turned out that the bomb had been planted in the doorway of the TAP
offices.
But for a few lucky minutes, I could
have been passing at the exact moment of the explosion, in which case
I wouldn't be here now to write this.
2 comments:
Last week there were two lightning strikes in close sequence. One hit a tree a block away and tore a strip from top to bottom. The other one hit the Baptist church next door, which sent both the cats and myself diving for cover.
But it failed to fuse their obnoxious imitation church bells, which I assume was the mission of the lightning bolt thrower. Maybe there will be another attempt with better luck.
Prairie Mary
Not sure what "imitation church bells" are, but if they are the equivalent of the tinny recorded voices of the muezzin shattering the eardrums five times a day in Muslim cities, let's hope that the Thrower of the Lighnting Bolt improves his aim. And soon. I have plenty more suggestions for suitable targets........
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