India: Train robbers die from poison gas (diesel heist goes bad)

[phantom power]

AT least 15 Indian train robbers looking to steal diesel from a freight carriage died today after inhaling poison gas stored in another tank they accidentally broke open, police said.

...The train was earlier stopped by dozens of armed people who police believe were members of a gang which frequently steals crude oil from trains and pipelines carrying oil to refineries in the oil-rich state.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24376182-12377,00.html

[grannie4peace]

1. wow! instant karma?

[corkhead]

2. do they have Darwin Awards in India?

[happyslug]

3. I wonder if the Railroad deliberate mis-marked the tanker?

i.e. to kill the thieves to scare other people from doing such stealing. The only reason I bring this up is most Tankers are clearly marked if they contain compressed product as compared to a liquid product. The container needs of a tanker that holds compressed product must be stronger then one that holds a liquid. Thus the rail workers can tell the difference just be looking at the car without even reading the contents, The thieves would NOT be that familiar with the tankers and could be fooled by putting a Compressed air tanker next to a diesel tanker. The thieves would assume both are diesel and open both, killing themselves.

Remember the Courts in India take even longer to handle lawsuits then we do, thus any lawsuits may be delayed for years. I am sorry it is the conspiracy nut in me that brought this up, and it may just be the railroad put those two cars together for both are viewed as "Dangerous" i,e, the Diesel can burn, but I can NOT rule out the possibility that the two cars of different types of product would be so near each other (In fact Diesel does NOT burn as well outside an engine as does gasoline, which is why diesel tankers can go through most tunnels in the US, but Gasoline Tankers can not).

[diane in sf]

4. If so, good riddance to bad rubbish.

[happyslug]

7. I hate to say it, but the Penalty of Thrift has never been Death in the US.

Some of the old Western talked about death Penalty for Horse thrives, but that had more to do with leaving someone without a horse to die NOT just the theft of the Horse.

England did have the death Penalty to theft in the 18th Century, but it was tied in with thieves not yet convicted, being given a choice, death or being sold as an indentured servant in the American Colonies. This being the 1600s and 1700s, England could NOT send convicted felons overseas by international law. Instead thrives once arrested would be given the choice, the victim dropping the charges in exchange for the fees of being sold as an indentured servant or death. Most if not all people opt for indentured servitude. Virginia and other Colonies quickly adopted a policy of NOT taking convicted criminals, so the practice became one of dropping the charges BEFORE conviction in exchange for seven years service in the Colonies. Thus no convicted Criminals was sent over to the Americans, you were shipped before Conviction. The problem with less then the death Penalty was some criminals would opt for the punishment then go to the New World, thus the Death Penalty was more a threat then a real punishment (Now Australia being settled starting in the late 1700s came under different rules, convicted criminals could and were sent to Australia but that is also about the time the death Penalty was ended for Thrift in England, for with the Americans a free country and Australia having no rules against convicted criminals, the old option was no longer needed).

My point was death was, is and should NOT be the punishment for stealing oil. No one is asking for Bush's head as he tries to steal Iraq's oil? and that being the case oil theft should NOT be a subject to the Death Penalty.

[Nihil]

5. I did wonder if it was a "Q-ship" type of thing ...? (n/t)

:shrug:

[happyslug]

6. As a general Rule, do not Assume Conspiracy when Stupidity will suffice.

My problem is why have these two different types of tankers next to each other. My to my background that Diesel tankers can go through the Tunnels on the PA Turnpike but Gasoline and Compressed gas tankers can NOT (Except if the tunnels are completely closed down, which occurs every so often but pre-scheduled by the tanker and the tunnels mostly by the National Guard). The difference is based on the difference between the fuels, gasoline evaporates much faster then Diesel and can act like a compressed gas, spreading fames quickly after an accident. Diesel takes a little longer to switch from liquid to gaseous state and thus less likely to catch on fire in the form of a fireball, thus fire from the accident involving Diesel is less of a concern.

[phantom power]

8. It's interesting...

Most of the discussion in this topic so far has been related to the death of the thieves. I was actually most interested in the fact that people are holding up trains to steal fuel.