miraculous escape from a ton of gravel - Concertina

Read this word for the first time in Dictionary.com.  It is the word in its usage as a ‘noun’  – ‘Concertina’ – which refers to a musical musical instrument resembling an accordion but having buttonlike keys, hexagonal bellows and ends, and a more limited range.

A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it. Also, each button produces one note, while accordions typically can produce chords with a single button.  The concertina was developed in England and Germany, most likely independently. The English version was invented in 1829 by Sir Charles Wheatstone and a patent for an improved version was filed by him in 1844. The German version was announced in 1834 by Carl Friedrich Uhlig.

There are words which are used both as Noun and Verb.  The verb ‘Concertaina’ [pronounced - kon-ser-TEE-nuh] means :-

1. To fold, crush together, or collapse in the manner of a concertina: The car concertinaed when it hit the truck.

2. To cause to fold or collapse in the manner of a concertina.

Can you imagine what the above means or what it would look like, if there were to be one such accident..  Now here is what was read in Daily Mail of an accident in China.

A Chinese driver has had an incredible escape after his car was squashed virtually flat after being buried underneath a ton of gravel. The car was crushed when a lorry laden with gravel tipped over and spilled its entire load. This sparked a major rescue operation, with firefighters first on the scene amazed to discover that the driver was still alive.

A witness who saw the accident  in Xiangtan, southern China's Hunan Province, said those at the scene did not hold out much hope for the man inside the vehicle. 'We thought the driver definitely died', he said.

Firefighters called in a crane to help lift the lorry - but it was initially too small, so they had to call for help from a larger machine. Meanwhile, they used shovels and their hands to clear the large mound of gravel away from the top of the vehicle, as they desperately tried to reach the crushed driver.  Once the heavy crane arrived, they managed to successfully lift the lorry.

It then made clearing the gravel easier and they sawed open the car roof to free the casualty.  He was finally pulled free more than an hour after the accident. He was sent to hospital where doctors discovered he had several broken bones.

Incredulous that one can survive such a nasty accident !! [all photos of car accident in this post – courtesy – www.dailymail.co.uk].  Many a times, good brands are priced very high....  -  perhaps they have so good carefully carved out high safety standards that takes care of the occupants and this car -[the brand could not be made out though !] had such a safety system to withstand the impact and yet save its occupant......

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

25^th August 2012.