Tragedy at Na Uyana

A terrible accident has struck the Na Uyana Aranya Senasanaya monastery in Sri Lanka. Last Thursday night, around 9:00pm local time, 13 monks boarded a cable-drawn rail cart to return uphill to their kutis after a religious ceremony. Midway, the steel cable snapped, the cart plunged down the tracks and crashed. Seven died from the impact while six were injured - four critically, two with lighter wounds. Among the dead were three foreign monks from India, Russia and Romania; the rest being Sri Lankan.

In hindsight, the tragedy could have been avoided. The cart was designed for six passengers but it carried more than double its limit. When Saw See and I visited Na Uyana with friends in January 2024, we were shown the upper and lower stations of this very system. At the time it was idle, undergoing repairs. Had it been working, we would almost certainly have tried to ride it not out of necessity, but simply for the experience. I shudder now to think how easily it could have been us instead of the 13 monks. By sheer good karma, we were spared, and for that I am deeply grateful.

But gratitude quickly gives way to sorrow. Our hearts ache for the seven monks whose lives were cut short, and for the six still struggling with their injuries. And our thoughts also go out to the other monks who call Na Uyana their home and sanctuary. The silence in the aranya must now be weighted with grief and the echoes of an accident that shouldn’t have happened.

The ultimate lesson here is a painful one. Human failure can occur at any time to anyone, and the failure to respect the limits of a machine, the failure to prioritise safety over convenience, can break even the most serene environments.

As a footnote, it is sobering to note that this is the second rail car accident to occur in September. On the third of this month, Lisbon’s popular Glória funicular derailed and crashed, killing at least 17 passengers and injuring many more. Again, a faulty steel cable sent a carriage hurtling down the slope until it smashed into a building near the base. Two tragedies, seemingly worlds apart, yet sharing the same cause and the same lesson that vital parts can fail and when they do, the consequences are merciless.

These accidents remind us that vigilance cannot be optional. Maintenance must be regular, rigorous and beyond compromise. Safety checks must never be reduced to routine box-ticking. Closer to home, I hope the Penang Hill Corporation reflects deeply on these disasters and ensures that our own funicular railway, where the trains run fast and steep, receives the most scrupulous care. We cannot afford complacency, for one lapse is all it takes to turn a place of joy into the scene of another tragedy.