The first was in Spain, July 24, involving pilgrims traveling by train to Compostella to honor the Apostle Saint James the Greater, 77 killed. The second was a bus accident in Italy killing 38 returning from Saint Padre Pio’s shrine in Pietrelcina on July 28. The third was on August 5, in Mexico, another bus accident, killing nine who were on their way to the shrine of Our lady of Guadalupe. And, now, eighteen pilgrims, returning from a retreat in Puncak Pass, Indonesia, were killed when their tour bus skidded off a road overturning and landing at the bottom of a slope. Let us pray that all these poor pious victims were in the state of grace, that being the only consolation that would alleviate the sorrow of their families and friends.
Jakarta: A serious road accident hit the Indonesian Christian community today. A bus carrying dozens of members of the Bethel Church (GBI) went off the road this morning, killing 18 people and wounding more than 35, some of them seriously.
The bus was on its way back from a popular tourist destination in Puncak (Peak) Pass, travelling on the main road to Kelapa Gading, a neighbourhood in North Jakarta, where the victims lived.
According to preliminary reports, the bus left the mountainous area of Puncak Pass at dawn after Church members completed their spiritual retreat.
