Accident

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It was the accident which the government had to take notice off. The world watched the response of the nation. The lives lost were not ordinary ones. Some of the most influential business men and politically connected men had died. After months of arrangement, a week of excellent stay, it was unfortunate that the nation had to see these deaths. The head of the state had not anticipated for this catastrophe. How could he?

The bus was moving at a pleasurable speed in the curvy road along the Alps. The summer had just set in. The Alps was in its glory days again. Small caps of the snow covered the peaks of the mountain range. The traffic was only from the security vehicles surrounding the bus. The other traffic had been deviated on the otherwise busy road connecting the Swiss towns.

The men had enjoyed their stay in the resorts. They had made some strategic business deals and relaxed with their families. It was time to say bye and join their workforce in their home nations. They were on the last stretch to board the chartered planes at the airport. Then the accident happened.
 
A rock came falling from the peak and crushed the bus. The rock had settled well. Parts of the bus and humans were thrown all over the place.  The road was red in blood. Within minutes helicopters were hovering around the place. Rescue teams arrived from all possible sides. All they could do was to move the rock away and put the pieces of the bodies in different bags.

Now the head of states met to discuss the aftermath of the accident. The main agenda was to come up with a plan so that such accidents would not happen again.

“The road is repaired now. But the damage has hit the traffic. People do not use the road any longer. The rail traffic has increased. They prefer to take the longer train than drive through the Alps. This has affected trade in the two towns. Lorries refuse to take the road. The damage is in the mind”, announced a minister.

“What was the reason for the disaster?” came a straight question.

The home minister stood - “Global warming!”.

Eye brows went up in surprise. It was anticipated by the minister.

He continued “The actual reason for the accident is indeed Global warming. Due to the excessive heat during the summers, the snow at the top of Alps melts. There are lots of rocks on those monstrous mountains, which are held together by snow. The snow is a glue. And they have remained bonded by this glue since centuries. Now because of global warming, the glue melts faster. The bonds between the rocks are gone. They crash down. And one such rock claimed the lives of those rich men.”  The reasoning made sense – to everybody.

“What next?”

“We need to control Global warming. This has been addressed several times. The measures are in place. To prevent such accidents, we should watch the rocks and the glue. And watch them always. Technology will help us. It’s big money and work, but helps. Put cameras on the mountains watching the stones. Automatically monitor the snow movements by comparing the photos of the previous days. Based on this, if there is a danger - close the roads for human traffic.”

After some more discussions the plan was approved. 

After implementation, there have been no accidents but the road was closed many times.