MR SEMPLE’S SON INJURED
PINNED UNDER HEAVY
TRACTOR
MACHINE ROLLS INTO
CREEK
ACCIDENT IN NGAHAURANGA GORGE
(PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.)
WELLINGTON, September.; 15. After being pinned fpr an-hour under a five-ton caterpillar tractor, which fell with him down bank in the Ngahaurahga Gorge this afternoon, Mr V. R. Semple, a .son of the Hon. R. Semple, Minister for Public Works, was later . admitted to’ Lewisham i Hospital. His condition wr.s .described fto : nifeit as-sprious. His injuries consist of severpfphock, loss of a portion of four fingers of the right hand, and a lacerated wound in the s upper'right arbit ' Mr Semple was driving the tractor, which was employed on the hauranga Gorge road; construction job being carried out by the Public Works Department. He was backing the tractor on a portion of the old road, and the bank gave way causing the machine and driver to roll down to the creek beloW; There, with his right arm and handcrushed, and With only room enough to keep bis head above the shallow water of the creek in which he was held, Mr Semple lay ior an hour until the tractor could be lifted sufficiently to permit his release. Other men on Jthe, job rushed to give assistance at ’■ once, and. under the direction of the engineer in charge, Mr M. Goddart; steel cables were attached "to two other tractors on the road, and the heavy machine was slowly lifted from; the injured man. Extreme Care Necessary Extreme care had to be exercised because of the danger that the tractor might fall back and crush Mr Semple. AP-the; tractcjr was lifted, hand jacks and chocks were employed as an additional precaution, and it was also found necessary to dismantle part of the fallen tractor, before Mr Semple could be• extnThe accident occurred in the lower, part of the gorge, about 120 yards on the Wellington side of the water tunnel. About 4 p.m. the Hon. R. Semple arrived at the scene, shortly before his son was released, and accompanied him in the ambulance to Lewisham , Hospital. Mr _ Semple, jun., was conscious all the time, and spoke with his father. “That is the coldest swim I have ever had, .he said, as he was being put in the ambulance on a stretcher. One of the workmen who witnessed the accident said he would like to pay’tribute to the, engineer in charge and the overseer, Mr J. Collard, for the efficient manner in which the- difficult task of raising the was carried out. “Every possible precaution was taken to prevent the machine rolling back on Mr Semple,” he said. J
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Bibliographic details
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Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22508, 16 September 1938, Page 10
Word count
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435MR SEMPLE’S SON INJURED Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22508, 16 September 1938, Page 10
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