Teodor Vehauc's 9th Post

Knife-Wielding Men Attack Train Station in China, at Least 27 Dead

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/03/01/knifewielding_men_attack_train_station_in_china_dozens_killed_and_injured.html#

Published on Sat. March 1, 2014        Published By: The Associated Press

          Last Saturday, over ten knife-wielding terrorists attacked innocent civilians at a train station located in South-Western China. Twenty-nine people were killed, and about 130 were injured. The local police killed four attackers, and arrested one of them. The attackers were mostly dressed in black, and attacked the Kunming train station in the province of Yunnan and started to attack people in the late evening. Evidence found at the area of the attack revealed that it was a terrorist attack by the Xinjiang separatist forces. Xinjiang is home to a rebellion against Chinese rule. Over sixty victims of the attack were rushed to a hospital, where about a dozen bodies were also visible. Many people lost loved ones during this sad, terrible event.

           In the article, it doesn’t really mention what was the main purpose behind the attack, it just gives information about the attack. I don’t know what would drive anyone to kill innocent civilians, but it’s really horrible. If I was there during the killings, I would be so scared, I would either run away as fast as I possibly could, or I would just freeze up from the shock. I might not know what to do due to having seen many murders right before my eyes. One thing I think should have been added to the article was a description of how good the security there was, considering over ten armed men were able to reach the station. That makes me worry about the idea of people with weapons being discovered only when it’s too late. Even with so much access to violence via media sources (such as violence in movies and video games), it’s nothing compared to real life instances. With video games, even if it looks realistic, you know it’s not real. It’s just a collection of pixels on a screen. In real life on the other hand, real people with real families that care about them get killed, and the sadness that comes to their families is so extreme, it can’t be described in any way. All in all, I liked the article. Even though the events that happened were very sad and disastrous, it was still well written. It gave the details of a horrible attack, and it gave a realistic description the surviving victims’ terror. It was a severely traumatic experience for many survivors, and may the victims that were killed rest in peace.

Teodor Vehauc's 8th Post

Man Trying to Hijack Plane to Olympics Detained in Turkey

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/02/07/man_trying_to_hijack_plane_to_olympics_detained_in_turkey.html

Published on Fri, Feb 7, 2014              By: Susan Fraser

          Last Friday, a Ukrainian man tried to hijack a plane headed to Sochi for the Olympics. The man believed that the plane ended up landing in Sochi, but the pilot tricked the supposed hijacker, and landed in Istanbul. As soon as the pilot signalled that there was an attempt to hijack the plane, a Turkish fighter jet was sent out to safely and securely escort the plane to its destination. Afterwards, the hijacker was arrested during a confrontation in which a negotiator was able to convince the man to let the passengers off of the plane. The man’s motive wasn’t evident, but according to Huseyin Avni Mutlu, the Governor of Istanbul, the hijacker wanted to deliver a “message concerning the sporting activities in Sochi”. According to Habib Soluk, the Turkish Transport Ministry undersecretary, the hijacker stood up from his seat, yelled that there was a bomb on the plane, and tried to go into the cockpit, which was luckily locked. The plane landed about when the opening ceremony began, and despite the threat of the hijacking, the executive creative director of the Olympics opening ceremony didn’t change anything.

          In the article, it talks a little about the events on the plane. Personally, I would prefer for it to have given a little more detail about the happenings. For example, they could have included an interview with one of the passengers concerning what was going through their mind at the time, while the hijacker was yelling about the bomb. With the information already given, I would be really scared if I happened to be on that plane. Also, at the end of the article, it mentions that even though the director of the opening ceremony knew about the attempted hijacking, he didn’t do anything. That makes me question the security during an event such as the opening ceremony. Naturally, they wouldn’t have absolutely no security, but it surprised me that he didn’t change anything about the opening. He at least could have increased the security measures in order to enter the area. I also would have liked a little more information about what happened to both the man and the passengers when they found out they weren’t in Sochi. For example, they could have included if the passengers got to the Olympics yet, or if they’re still at Istanbul. Despite these things, I liked the article. It explained the happening of somebody trying to partially sabotage a major worldwide event. That was actually the reason I chose this article. I see no reason for anybody to do something like that, so by reading the article, I might find out the motive behind it.