 Angry villagers have clashed with a Buddhist monk over the right to solicit donations from tourists at the site where last year's massive tsunami swept a train off the tracks in Sri Lanka and killed some 2,000 people. The clashes occurred after the monk ran beggars off the site where the rusted, mangled train cars still sit nearly a year after the disaster — and began his own donation drive.
| "Beat it, rubes! Dis is my corner!" |
The beggars retaliated by attacking the monk's operation, which brought in $5,700, a huge sum of money in a country where an average office worker earns $100 a month.
"Get the holy man!"
[Thump! Thump! Pummel!] |
Now survivors of the train wreck say they are dismayed by the effort to turn a profit from the tsunami, while others are concerned about where the money would be spent — and if victims would reap the benefits.
| Ummm... My guess is 'no.' What's yours? |
"This shows the greed of people," said Nimal Premasiri, a railway stationmaster who was on the train and whose wife and daughter were killed in the tsunami. "We Sri Lankans are not bad people, but these people have made us look bad, very bad."
| Sri Lankans, from what I've seen, are very nice people for the most part. These guys don't sound like they are. |
|
