ANGOLA - JW Regional Convention target of attack. (page 3)

ILoveTTATT2

I honestly highly doubt this will ever hit a "known" news source such as AP or Reuters. Either too small of an event to be newsworthy (no one died)... or it's being hushed by someone in Angola... it would turn too political too quickly... an attack perpetrated by the opposition because they lost?

shepherdless

My wife said she had seen a notification from the local branch to the effect that nothing serious happened, there may have been a disturbance at the convention, and a couple of people fainted. I didn't see the notification.

darkspilver

shepherdless: My wife said she had seen a notification from the local branch to the effect that nothing serious happened.

You could always ask her what she means by 'nothing serious' - but maybe it is a 'relative' thing, how would we have viewed it if it had happened at an event that we where attending....

FYI... from the official JW website...

ANGOLA: Witnesses at Convention in Angola Overcome by Toxic Fumes

JW.org , Tuesday, August 29, 2017
On Friday morning, August 25, 2017, during a convention being held at the Viana Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Luanda, Angola, 405 attendees were rendered unconscious when assailants released toxic gas in the main auditorium and separate restroom facilities. Fortunately, the gas was not lethal and no one was killed. The victims were taken to local hospitals and most were treated and released within a few hours. The incident is being investigated by the local authorities; three men were arrested and taken into police custody on Friday afternoon.
The branch office in Luanda reports that all of the victims are recovering well. It was noted that those in attendance did not panic and worked together to care for the injured. In cooperation with recommendations from the local police, the Friday afternoon session of the convention was canceled. However, the convention resumed successfully without major incident on Saturday, August 26, and Sunday, August 27. Attendance reached a peak of over 12,000, and 188 were baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses.
https://www.jw.org/en/news/releases/by-region/angola/toxic-gas-20170829/

shepherdless

Darkspilver, I don't know if that is what she read. However, before we try, convict and execute my wife of being a heartless individual, on reflection I actually coloured her interpretation of it as she explained it, and she agreed and went along with my cynical interpretation. I am the heartless one.

I point out that it is easy to interpret the real story as:

a stink eminated from the toilets (perhaps ammonia or H2S);
a few people felt faint, triggering a group hysteria where a number of people collapsed in sympathy saying they were unwell, feeling faint, being poisoned etc;
3 randoms in the crowd were captured and accused of being responsible;
the 405 "unconscious" people went to hospital and were told to calm down and sent home.

In support of this version of events, what sort of gas could render 405 people in an open air environment unconscious, without killing anybody, and yet wear off so quickly that a hospital would feel comfortable sending them home? I am sure an anethestist could confirm that that is impossible. Also, any group capable of pulling that off is going to be far too clever to be caught in the vicinity.

Also, getting 405 unconscious people to hospitals is a major logistical exercise, as is treating them. If the story was true, that part of the story would have been significant, with stories of ambulances and doctors being overwhelmed, etc.

Also, in such circumstances, do you really think they would allow the convention to continue the next day?

The only part of the story that may realistically be true is that the arrested 3 did actually release a smelly gas.

darkspilver

shepherdless: of being a heartless individual

sorry, I'm definately not meaning that: your wife (and you) where only the messengers - she was only passing on information she had been forwarded on to her by the 'local branch'

I understood that your wife had been given virtually no details, just a very brief 'nothing serious' had happened.

My point being that I don't think that if your wife had read the report on jworg first, she would have labelled it as 'nothing serious' - even if the whole 'toxic gas' escape had been an accident.

Remember the 'worldly' news reports were being labelled by some JWs as 'FAKE' (and not just as 'unconfirmed') prior to the jworg article - yet the basic details all match up.

BTW I think that the non-jworg article say that around only 45 went to hospital.

shepherdless

No worries, darkspilver. I wasn't really offended. I actually don't know my wife read, b.t.w.

dropoffyourkeylee

I have to wonder about the whole story. In Africa, most toilets are simply pits, and there isnt a sewage system like we take for granted. A few guys pouring something in the toilets is unlikely to make it smell any worse than it already is. I suspect there is a more benign explanation.

EdenOne

Deleted.

Darkspilver already noted that only 40+ were taken to the hospital, not the whole lot that fainted.

Plus, I have an independent confirmation of the incident directly from a sister in Angola, who posts in the portuguese forum.

ANGOLA - JW Regional Convention target of attack.

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