[Gondring]

I see your point, but this bus fire is so unusual

It's also unusual to be moving so many people with such urgency. The chance of a regular old garden-variety (non-terrorist) problem increases more than linearly as numbers and urgency are added (people act less safely when rushed...perhaps leaving a valve open, or pushing equipment too hard, or getting fatigued faster). Besides, odd accidents happen quite often...this one just becomes so noticeable above the noise because of our focus there.

But besides the horror of it, if this is all that Al Q. can manage (something that strikes less terror than just tragic sorrow), then it looks like we're winning quite handily, eh?

[Steve_Seattle]

"The chance of a regular old garden-variety (non-terrorist) problem increases more than linearly as numbers and urgency are added (people act less safely when rushed...perhaps leaving a valve open, or pushing equipment too hard, or getting fatigued faster)."

True, true, and true. Still, if there was ever a perfect example of Murphy's Law, this is it.