Truck Crashes Into Easter Island Statue Toppling It Over

The island is considered to be one of the great mysteries of the world. There are almost 1000 statues here that have remained unanswered for. One local Chilean man was charged and arrested for damaging the sacred monument according to local media on Sunday. 

Not only was the statue damaged but the platform where it rested upon. The impressive stone created statues were carved by the indigenous Rapa Nui people. It is believed that each of them embodies the spirit of a great ancestor. Physically these statues are quite impressive. They have unusually shaped eyes and long ears among different hats.

While many know of this island and these monuments they have fascinated people for many years. To construct and carve these was no easy feat and to create so many of them is even more impressive. The idigenous Rapa Nui people were estimated to have lived between the years of 1400 and 1650 on the island itself. They positioned each statue in such a way to create a ring effect around the island itself. 

It really is an interesting place and things might well change becoming more restricted soon due to the possibility of another incident like this crash. The locals here including the mayor mentioned on social media that it was of vital importance to “protect culture heritage here”.

Some might not know that one of these impressive statues remains away from the island it was gifted by a naval captain to Queen Victoria back during the 1860’s. That statue was given the name “Hoa Hakananai’a”. Nowadays, the statue remains inside a British Museum. The government of Chile requested that the statue be returned to its origin back in 2018. 

In regards to the statue being damaged, comments were made in the paper about it. The following was said:

“Everyone decided against establishing traffic rules when it came to vehicles on sacred sites – but we, as a council, were talking about the dangers and knew very well what the rise in tourist and resident numbers could mean”, Mr Edmunds Poa told the El Mercurio newspaper.

“They didn’t listen to us and this is the result,” he said. Look at the results, as this was a lesson to be learned.

(Source: BBC)