This was the staggering scene after a faulty gas cooker exploded in a timber-framed shack – and devastated a tiny Caribbean island.

The blast caused an inferno that leapt from hut to hut, taking less than ten minutes to sweep across Soledad Miria.

Many of the 1,014 inhabitants dived into the sea or took to fishing boats to escape. More than a third – 348 – were injured but, amazingly, no one died.

1/3/2007 8:47:23 AM

probably some redneck

1/3/2007 8:49:19 AM

damn

1/3/2007 8:53:28 AM

yikes

1/3/2007 8:54:06 AM

there are seriously over 1000 people living right there

holy shit

1/3/2007 9:11:44 AM

that's a pretty dense population

1/3/2007 9:22:25 AM

that island needed cleansing

1/3/2007 9:27:26 AM

I like the ttwo little huts with their own island... it's like an island within an island!

1/3/2007 9:37:05 AM

that island wouldn't even slow down a tsunami

1/3/2007 9:38:14 AM

^^I didn't notice that, lol

I guess those are the suburbs.

1/3/2007 9:47:18 AM

i'd bet that is like a restaurant/meeting place/town hall....

at least it'll give them something to do this year.

1/3/2007 10:01:03 AM

they'll have something to talk about too

1/3/2007 10:03:47 AM

i wonder how that side of hte island survived, i mean considering i dont think there is a firestation or anything. and where in gods name are they gonna get hte wood to rebuild? that place has nothing....

1/3/2007 10:20:26 AM

they'll buy it from the mainland

1/3/2007 10:29:31 AM

The island was doomed anyways. Looks like one storm would wipe that place out

1/3/2007 10:44:22 AM

big business is trying to put a Chili's up there

1/3/2007 11:13:06 AM

^ or in 10-20 years, rising water levels whould have forced half or more people off the island.

[if water levels continue to rise as they have in the past 10 years]

1/3/2007 11:15:10 AM

If the sea rises 1 foot that place is gone.

1/3/2007 11:18:54 AM

it looks like half the island is fine

1/3/2007 11:20:35 AM

i am curious about this island now. they are just living on the tip of the mountain. how deep is the water there?

and the main thing, is the island self-sustaining, or do they get regular supplies from mainland (which would be what?), because i sure don't see any forests or animals to be hunted there. if so, why not just move to mainland?

what about schools, hospitals?

1/3/2007 11:22:55 AM

It's likely a fishing community. Everything else is brought in.

1/3/2007 11:23:51 AM

^^they probably don't have schools...they probably live in a almost ancient way of life. Much like the japanese samarui did...you spend each waking day perfecting your skill...in this case fishing.

What I'd like to know is what happens during a hurricane or high tide lol...do these huts come equipped with life vests?

1/3/2007 11:26:39 AM

OH MAN.. HOW COULD THESE POOR PEOPLE EAT WHILE THEY ARE SURROUNDED BY FUCKING OCEAN

1/3/2007 11:54:37 AM

hahahaa

1/3/2007 12:11:09 PM

global warming will fuck them up sooner or later anyhow.

1/3/2007 12:39:04 PM

well at least now there is space to put a walgreens there.

1/3/2007 12:51:50 PM

hhahaha..

"Tonto, stop taking a shit in the kitchen & go pick up your father's prescription."

1/3/2007 1:05:24 PM

walmart coming soon!

1/3/2007 1:17:33 PM

if i had photoshop here at work, i'd slap a walmart up there

1/3/2007 1:25:44 PM

I can't quite decide if thats funny or tragic.

1/3/2007 1:42:35 PM

Quote :

"OH MAN.. HOW COULD THESE POOR PEOPLE EAT WHILE THEY ARE SURROUNDED BY FUCKING OCEAN"

humans can't survive on sea food alone, you know.

but MAYBE, these people have a different system from millenia of isolation, that allows them to survive only on sea food.

wonder if that is possible.

ps LoneSnark could we have the link please, so i can send it to people? thanks.

[Edited on January 3, 2007 at 2:09 PM. Reason : ]

1/3/2007 2:08:59 PM

i'm sure there are plenty of other islands right around this one...i doubt it's that isolated

1/3/2007 2:11:49 PM

Soledad Miria?

could have been worse

could have been Soledad O'Brien

1/3/2007 2:13:07 PM

looks less than a mile or so from shore.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=9.450,+-78.912&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=10&ll=9.545229,-78.910675&spn=0.574211,1.376038&iwloc=addr

1/3/2007 2:14:49 PM

1/3/2007 6:44:14 PM

woops. forgot the link:
http://intellectualize.org/archives/010674.html

Ha, the place just got it's own wikipedia entry, just for this occasion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soledad_Miria

[Edited on January 3, 2007 at 6:52 PM. Reason : .,.]

1/3/2007 6:48:31 PM

Quote :

"But why is the rum gone?"

1/3/2007 6:50:51 PM

damn, my house lot is almost the same size of that island. lol

1/4/2007 12:17:57 PM

^^haha!

1/4/2007 1:46:59 PM