You probably hit the nail on the head right there in a bit. I am really torn on this. This is really all about perception, and more sensational and will get more comments along that line because it was an immediate stupid move. But is it any less dumb than say drinking oneself into a stupor and toying with alcohol poisoning?

Definitely did not deserve it. But unfortunately, life has never been a safe thing to live. Life has consequences, no amount of putting up signs, or rubber coating toys and what not will prevent a mistake from going bad to worse. I would go deeper and say that too many people don't respect life now, and thus, don't valuate the risks (after all you can't put in a quarter for another life). But people have been doing stupid things since time began, and will continue. I suppose every one of us are a click of an emotion away from being discussed on a forum.

Not just to a point but unlimited. Nobody could predict that the girl would make the mistake she did

I knew girl who died. She was incredible. She was on her way to earn her doctorate in biological sciences at a fantastic institution. She was not dumb. Her decision was not dumb. It was an unfortunate mistake that has had horrible consequences for her.

What some of you have posted is reprehensible and you should be ashamed of yourselves. I only assume that this isn’t the first time some of you have been this insensitive and it is a habit that you should quit. Some things need to be said, and it should be obvious and unnecessary but whatever, and I hope you take it to heart. The internet is ubiquitous. There are friends and family that are desperate for more information and are obviously taking to the internet. Some of the comments are devastating to read and show a complete lack of judgment and empathy for those involved. Please remember that what you write sits in cyberspace for eternity and can easily be accessed by anyone with a computer and a connection. For those negative, snarky trollers, I hope you never have to find a thread like this. Or maybe I do, as that way you will know how it feels and never make that mistake again. Some people do have to learn empathy the hard way. For those that changed the tune later on after the mother commented, maybe next time you voice your opinion assume family and friends will see it instead of sounding off like a bunch of macaque monkeys. A few of you need to be reminded of that. To attempt to justify any comment that made fun of the situation or was derogatory to the person that died in any way is shameful. Planking? Really? Stupid American statements? Really? How you don't prevent acts of Darwinism? Really? Indicating that it is just the nature of forums is a shitty excuse. Extending basic, human courtesy is important and is a mark of civility that some of you desperately lack. Jokes are funny, you were not. Every one of us has lost someone in our life and should know better.

It must be said that at the end someone lovely has died. She had a smile, whit, and heart that made it impossible to dislike her. She was honest, responsible, had a kind heart, and one of my closest friends. Before I met her at my former institution in Texas, my life was depressing and mechanical. I didn't feel like I belonged at all. When she was placed under me in the lab, her passion and vigor for life and ease of her friendship brought so much to my life. It was like someone turned on the light. For the first time in a while, I didn’t feel awkward or out of place. She truly meant a lot to me,and without her, I know my experience would have been significantly more grey. She graduated a year before me and after she left, while I found other friends, it wasn’t quite the same. I still maintained contact and our friendship. She was a constant source of fun, wisdom, and whit that I will miss for the rest of my life. On top of everything she offered as a person, the girl who died was a truly gifted young scientist. And I do not say this out of grief, while I am good, she was better. I had the good fortune to train her in some laboratory techniques and research methods surrounding my research before she graduated. She was beyond intelligent and had a good sense about her.

Every day I want to text my friend, to call my friend. Every day, I am reminded of my friend. When I drove through Texas today, all I wanted to do was stop by and get a drink with her. Unfortunately that is no longer a possibility. For those who love to make shitty comments, remember that someone died. That person impacted someones life and will be missed.

She made a mistake, but as someone who has also grown up in the US (Texas and the train dense Chicago Area (Illinois)), I probably would have probably made the same mistake. I would have assumed a horn would go off or some sort of light signal would be present to warn me of a train coming with plenty of time, as customary here in the States on both commuter and industrial lines. I would also assume that based off of what I was told when I was a kid visiting train yards with my family, some of which were visiting from Europe (museums and such, I was fascinated), that horns and lights were standard in Europe. Sure everything is older and narrower, but why would safety updates be ignored and not standard on all rails? They are not in the States, especially around populated areas or where people may travel on foot. And again, they were told it was safe.

Sadly, these things happen when you travel abroad. These things happen when you do not travel as well. It is a life snuffed short. It is an unfortunate tragedy brought on by a decision to press onward. It is a memory burned forever into the minds of her brother, friend, and boyfriend who were there when she died. It is a pain that rips at the very soul, into every molecule of ever cell of her parents being. It is a void to all that knew her. We have all made decisions like these and fortunately we have all survived our mistakes and enjoyed luck.

Good night.

Dear Thera,

We, members of this forum, lost a dear friend a year ago in a tragic accident too. The entire forum was devastated and people came all together to support each other, the closets friends and her family. It was an horrible time.

I can't explain what has been said on this thread. I stop reading it a long time ago and this morning, I don't know why, I opened it. Believe me, no one made horrible comments when our dear Begga passed. No one trolled or insulted the friends and family.

It is easy to talk the way it has been talk on this very thread when the person who makes the tragic news isn't known, loved and cherish.

I can't explain why so much insensitivity was said here about a human being. If someone would have said these things about Begga, I would have been devastated and disgusted.

Nil

Considering that trains pass through most tunnels here every few minutes, such a system would be pretty useless, as it would be constantly flashing or making noise!

Tom

As I said before, it's easy to blame the victim when you don't know her and there's nothing you can do to help. It's a common reaction. And in an Internet forum, everyone has to have their say...commenters get whipped up and insensitivity results. I suspect that most the posters making insensitive comments aren't quite the insensitive jerks they appear to be in this thread. It's easy to forget that a life was lost, and all the pain involved for family and friends.

As nil said, there can be an immense amount of support and kindness when active members meet with misfortune. I've seen it personally. But, when it's an unknown person....well, this is what happens. And it's a shame. It adds to the pain and it makes the forum look like, well, a bunch of jerks.

Perhaps a letter to Lonely Planet or whatever travel guide young Americans use would be a good idea so they could put this in the Warnings section of their European/Swiss travel guide books?

Some of the tunnels here are up to 15Km long - is a horn going off three hours before the train enters the tunnel really going to be of much help?

(assuming the average fast walking is 5Km/Hr).


I missed that bit - who on earth told them it was safe?


Of course this is tragic - a loss of life, especially in one so young and with such a life ahead of her is absolutely tragic. No one is saying she was stupid but her actions (and those of her friends) in entering the tunnel were incredibly naive and stupid.

I had a friend who lost his life when racing their motorbikes down a street, he crashed into a street lamp and died instantly. He too had a great life ahead of him, destroyed in an instant.
However, although he was far from stupid, his actions were also incredibly stupid. His parents agree.

Thank you for posting on this forum.

Going to edit this out. Generally speaking, just remembering what my mother said, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything all.

Not only your post was moronic and insensitive beyong prick but tit for tat red rep is also not accepted on this forum.

It shows you well.

Wisdom without compassion loses its credibility.

Most accidents are caused by human error, which we all are guilty of.

My condolences to Thera. Losing someone you've loved is one of the most heartbreaking situations in the world. It takes time for the heart to heal and the gaping hole inside to close a bit. It's the risk we take when we love someone, but the risk is absolutely worth it.

Edit: Regarding wisescarab's editing.... It seems you've realised you've made a mistake yourself. Welcome to the real world.

I am sorry, but I generally don't believe in sugar coating something.


Editing the rest out, because I've no interest in going tit/tat insulting someone, and remembering the reason why I edited the other one anyways.

Let me repeat it to you, so maybe, just maybe you'll understand this time: if you can't say something nice, or intelligent, learn to shut up.

Everyone is capable of dumb mistakes. I just merely wish folks would stop trying to sugar-coat one, accept it is as a tragedy, and move on.

Though expressing one's opinion isn't a dumb mistake. What would make a dumb mistake is doing that to say, a mugger. I don't consider my post as a mistake, as there was nothing intentionally mean spirited directed (at least as far as I am concern, words on a forum after all don't always portray what we really feel).

I removed it because really there is no point to it. On the off hand chance that these folks are actually family members, or know the family, they aren't about to listen to anything I state anyways. It would be rubbing salt in a wound, and doing that just for the sake of doing that would be mean.

That is a lesson you yourself should learn. At least to the latter.

We knew Begga. She wasn't some anonymous person in a new story, being commented on by people who didn't know her. However, the comments section in baz.ch were open and there were some pretty awful statements there.

The fact is, I'm afraid, if someone dies and there's a news story, you'll find somewhere, someone on the net quite happy to gloat. Fortunately, that's not so common. But you will find reams of speculation and theorising, as in this thread, that you may find upsetting. The net is NOT a nice place. I'm sorry that friends and relations of this woman have turned to the net to find information, and are upset by what they've read here. However, the fact is, the net, in these instances, is far more a source of opinion than it is of hard data. To those friends and relations - don't search the net for this. You'll only find stuff that's upsetting - even if it isn't in this thread.

Most folks after a tragedy should avoid the internet. It can get much worse than here. It will get much worse elsewhere. They should be prepared for that, a good Grief Councillor would give them the exact same advice as Notalllthere.

The sad thing is there are people that will have nothing better in their lives to do other than make fun of something of this nature. I've learned that lesson in the past. No one can police the internet for civility, after a point you just have to grow a thick skin.

People are going to discuss it, theorize, and otherwise. None of it will be anything but insensitive, and you can't expect people to reign everything in for someone they have no connection to.

I really almost wish I didn't mention that particular site earlier, I really did not articulate this well. It is happening, don't fool yourself. This is already making the rounds, on facebook and otherwise, and you would not want to see the comments. If I had been wiser I would have said they should just avoid the internet, rather than prepare for the callous onslaught. Considering a good portion of my income in the past had to do with writing, royalties, ect, I should be better at typing on a forum.

The young woman had the wrong thing at the wrong place at the wrong time.

But in regard to "horns" and "light signals" you have to bear in mind that in the rather small territory of Switzerland you have thousands of tunnels and bridges. Horn-signals are given in some critical places but definitely not in standard places.

You knew her well ? Alright, the only thing I can tell you is, do not mind about all the things which might have been, but always think about what you had with her, remember her jokes, her considerations, her opinions.

You got what I mean. I over the years did such mistakes by the dozen (or the hundreds) but had luck with me and happily survived. I think most people have the same experience as I had up to now. That bad fate hits home is the exception, to the luck of most of us. What however IS painful for relatives and friends of victims is that such an accident has to be thoroughly analyzed and mistakes done mentioned. Had somebody listed all comparable mistakes I ever committed, to speak with my sister-in-law, the end of my beard would have been around in the 3rd cellar ("die Spitze des Bartes war im dritten Keller zu besichtigen".

Is death funny ? No, not really. But when my brother KNEW that his death was approaching, we made some silly and amusing considerations like his concern whether the choice of wines "up in heaven" would/will be acceptable, and more. Like the question "do we in heaven have the chance to look what those in action on earth are doing ? " My brother and me, doing such "geistreiche Erörterungen" emptied a terribly expensive bottle of white Burgundy wine (Château Meursault) ! He in between told me what he wanted me to do once death for him had arrived, and all this in detail

I was her boyfriend if anyone has questions of how it all happened

not sure how often I'll check the forum (not sure how thread update settings are set) - PM me for the real story.

With all due respect - how do we know you're not just some sicko troll?