Remapping Eid bus tragedy, one cautious trip at a time
On June 6, a horrific bus accident shook the nation. A height barrier not only claimed the lives of 17 people, but also broke the hearts of many loved ones who had many questions left unanswered during the holiday weekend.
This week, our video team took on the task of driving to the accident site and retracing the bus route in an attempt to determine how the tragedy might have unfolded.
Armed with a phone camera, a microphone and a tripod, I hit the road towards the Rashidiya metro station, where the incident took place, with a few concerns going through my mind.
Is it going to be safe to film? Will there be increased police patrolling? Will I manage to do justice to the story by filming on my own? How discreet should I be when recording? These were just some of the queries at the back of my mind, while I scripted mental notes and also controlled the wheel.
The first challenge was that the intersection of the height barrier could only be accessed from one side of the highway. After I took the initial drive-through shot, I had to leave Rashidiya, head south towards Mirdiff to rejoin the highway and make my way back to the spot to record more footage.
Upon my return, I quickly recorded three piece-to-camera (PTC) links and left immediately in order to avoid attracting attention from onlookers. Much to my disappointment, my framing was not up to scratch. Hence, I had no other choice but to redo them.
During my third visit to the site, I realized that it was also next to an airstrip, further raising the concerns of attracting unwanted attention.
I hurriedly switched the camera to selfie mode, recorded the links and fled the area. Third-time lucky indeed.
Fortunately, the effort did not go in vain. The PTC links turned out to be explanatory enough to produce the video, which generated over 100,000 views on our Facebook page.
Looking back at the video, one can easily wonder that if in that split second, had the bus not taken the wrong exit, it would have avoided meeting its fatal end.