GAISAL, India - As workers sifted through mountains of wreckage to recover mangled, rotting bodies, Americans at home breathed openmouthed sighs and glanced skyward when notified of yet another train wreck in India. The death toll is near 250, and will climb even higher as rescuers dig into the crumpled mess of the coach cars.

Thousands have died in train wrecks in India during the past five years alone, bringing apathy and complacency in front of sympathy and concern with most Americans. One question seems to linger in light of the fact that trains keep smacking into other trains: can't the Indians just build another track next to the one where all of the accidents are happening? This would seem to make sense, since head-on collisions with freight trains have bumped off heart disease and cancer to become the #1 killer of Indians.

15-year-old Nikki Kwan of Chicago, Illinois was near comatose when advised of the horrifying train wreck that occurred on Monday. "Big deal," Kwan said while yawning, "Where's India, anyway?"

The fact that India is more than 7000 nautical miles of clear blue water from the United States may have some bearing on the disinterest in foreign affairs with most Americans.

More than 100,000 Indian onlookers flocked to the scene of the accident in order to get a glimpse of "a (severed) foot, or maybe even a head," according to one grim spectator. The massive crowd arrived via the "Carnage Caboose," India's newest bullet train capable of speeds of more than 700 mph. While the new train has yet to be declared "safe" by local methamphetamine-using Safety Officials, passengers seemed almost as aloof about the potential for disaster as their earthling brothers in the United States.

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