Wednesday evening, more than a dozen suspected Islamic militants attacked 10 sites across Mumbai, India’s financial capital and started firing indiscriminately, killing many people in the process.

By press time 195 people had lost their lives during the stand off. More than 295 were also wounded in the violence. Fifteen foreigners were among the dead. A major in the commandos was also killed in the final assault.

It took the intervention of Indian commandos to end a 60-hour siege. On Saturday, the commandos announced they had killed the last remaining gunmen holed up at the hotel in a hail of gunfire.

There has been one claim of responsibility. A group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen e-mailed news organizations on Thursday claiming it had carried out the attacks.

According to media reports, the alleged group, previously unknown, may be connected with the Indian Mujahedin, which claimed responsibility for several terrorist strikes earlier this year.

But what if the horrifying event had happened in Africa or East Africa? Many things could have happened. The death toll probably could have been much higher than 195. Why?

In Africa, our capacity to handle disasters is highly lacking. Typically, the poor countries in Africa are the worst hit when disasters leave alone Mumbai seige strike because resources to help the situation are not enough.

But even when the resources are available, disaster preparedness is not our concern. We sit and  wait until it has visited us then we cry at the roof top of our voices.

Ends