Yesterday I had one of those heart-stopping moments you dread.
The husband texted me and asked if I was okay and I said sure, why? He then said there had been an explosion at a gas station near Landmark Mall. It took me a second to remember which mall that was...and then another long second as I slowly realized it was the mall right beside the park where J was having a field day field trip. I could barely type the letters as I texted that to the husband and then frantically put the area into google maps to see where the park was in relation to the station. I was shaking and holding my breath and praying and hoping, but I couldn't find the location and all the news reports were too sketchy to be of any help. The husband texted back to say he had heard that the gas station was one kilometer away from the park.
One kilometer was far too close. School wasn't out for another hour and half, but I grabbed E and we got into the car and headed to school as quickly as I could. This is a new school, and they are undergoing some changes in administration and email blasts aren't really a thing here yet, so I have found that face to face communication is really the only kind of communication that works.
The school secretary told me all the kids were already back safe and sound. Apparently they had heard the blast and gotten the kids loaded onto the buses quickly but without alarming them at all (J had no idea why they left early and couldn't care less). She asked if I wanted to take him then and since there were only 40 mins left in the day, I said yes. A few minutes later, he was running up to me, bubbling about his sports day and the cool buses that looked like airplanes inside.
It turns out that a propane tank exploded at Turkish restaurant by the gas station. Last I heard, 12 people are dead and more than 30 injured. It was a tragedy and not the first time something like this has happened. Safety inspections are lax if they exist at all and there is little enforcement of the laws that do exist. The pictures from the aftermath were awful, and my heart breaks for the families of the lost and wounded. All I could do was hug J tighter last night and be grateful he was safely right next to me.
The husband texted me and asked if I was okay and I said sure, why? He then said there had been an explosion at a gas station near Landmark Mall. It took me a second to remember which mall that was...and then another long second as I slowly realized it was the mall right beside the park where J was having a field day field trip. I could barely type the letters as I texted that to the husband and then frantically put the area into google maps to see where the park was in relation to the station. I was shaking and holding my breath and praying and hoping, but I couldn't find the location and all the news reports were too sketchy to be of any help. The husband texted back to say he had heard that the gas station was one kilometer away from the park.
One kilometer was far too close. School wasn't out for another hour and half, but I grabbed E and we got into the car and headed to school as quickly as I could. This is a new school, and they are undergoing some changes in administration and email blasts aren't really a thing here yet, so I have found that face to face communication is really the only kind of communication that works.
The school secretary told me all the kids were already back safe and sound. Apparently they had heard the blast and gotten the kids loaded onto the buses quickly but without alarming them at all (J had no idea why they left early and couldn't care less). She asked if I wanted to take him then and since there were only 40 mins left in the day, I said yes. A few minutes later, he was running up to me, bubbling about his sports day and the cool buses that looked like airplanes inside.
It turns out that a propane tank exploded at Turkish restaurant by the gas station. Last I heard, 12 people are dead and more than 30 injured. It was a tragedy and not the first time something like this has happened. Safety inspections are lax if they exist at all and there is little enforcement of the laws that do exist. The pictures from the aftermath were awful, and my heart breaks for the families of the lost and wounded. All I could do was hug J tighter last night and be grateful he was safely right next to me.
Oh Lil. Wow. Glad you are all safe.
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