TERRIBLE TRAIN DISASTER.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1846, 4 September 1913, Page 7

TERRIBLE TRAIN DISASTER.

ON BRITISH MIDLAND RAILWAY. ■ ABERDEEN FLYER TELESCOPES GLASGOW EXPRESS. VICTIMS PINNED IN BURNING WRECKAGE. - HARROWING SCENES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright London, September 2. • A terrible disaster lias occurred on tlie Midland Railway near Aisgill, in Yorkshire, not far from the sceno of tho Ha,wcs Junction accident in 1910, ono of the most inaccessiblo and lofty spots in England. Tho Glasgow express stopped at 5 o'clock in tho morning near the top of tho Aisgill Summit, owing to want'of steam. There was pitch darkness 'at the time. The Aberdeen express, travelling at full speed, dashed into tho •rear of the stationary' train with terrific force.- Tho engine penotrated the end carriago aiid > smashed several others. An Indescribable Scene. Thoro followed an indescribable scene, amid wild screams, some of the passengers being roasted to death. Many of tho passengers were pinned beneath the wreckage, and tho rescuers were unablo»to oxtricato them. Tho wreckago caught, fire, blazing furiously in the pitch darkness, and , driving back tho rescuers. Several tiersons, including, two children, whoso mothers had been seriously injured,, were incinerated. Fifteen were killed and twenty-five injured, including Sir Arthur Douglas 1 (an ox-New Zealander) - Ho was imprisoned in a burning carriage, and ' had a terrible experience'. He was badly burnt and his condition is critical. Many others were burned or otherwise injured, a number seriously. Ono woman had her hands cut off. Tho injured 1 were removed to hospital. Rescuers at/ Work. Tho uninjured passengers joined in tho rescue work; some recognising, re- ■ latives among tho.killed or injured. Ono. lady was horrified by the discovery of her dead husband. The rescuers saw a hand amidst the flames, frantically, biit vainly, beckoning for help. Smokoaud rain added to theirescuers' difficulties. Tho survivors obtained hatchets, lamps, saws, and fire extinguishers from tho guard's van, and heroically assisted in tho extrication of those imprisoned. Their coat 3 and trousers wero burnt, and their hair singed whilo tho.y worked. A passenger, half of whoso body was pinned under tho wreckago, was rescued as tho flames approached him. Elsov/hcro logs wero to bo seen dangling ! from.a window; tlnjy had been severed ■ from a body.' . 1 Ail uninjured lady survivor in a 1 coach in which others woro dying, rushed about asking: "Where are my golf ' sticks?" A mother, holding a babo, sobbed a prayer of gratitude that hor life and that of hor child had boon' saved. i ; Thirteen bodies, mostly tboso of adults, and including a woman, liavo , been recovered. They aro unrccognisablo. Tho driver and fireman miraculously escaped. Many of the passengers wero asleep at tho timo of tho accident, and had narrow, exciting oscapes. One passen- ' iger, when at Carlisle, exchanged one of tho carriages that was burned for another. \ i What the Slgnaiman Saw. Sutherland, the signalman at tho Mai- ] lorstang box, declares that his signals ' wero dead against tlie Aberdeen train. Ho was astounded when the express toro past tho box, but lio was helpless. Shortly afterwards lm heard tho noiso of tlio collision, though it occurred three miles away. It is stated that the driver of the Aberdeen express, finding that his on- ] gino needed attention shortly before ■ reaching Mallerstang, went to tho forepart of tlie engino to oil tho workings, leaving tho fireman in charge. Tho guard (Whitley) of tho Glasgow express, after raising tho alarm and £ awakening tho passengers, ran- back s along tho line and placed detonators and £ fog signals thereon. Ho also waved a s red flag and blow his whistle in frantic c efforts to attract attention, hut tho i on-coming train thundered past him, £ and struck tho other train, tho noiso of tho crash reverberating among steep mountains. Tho heat from the blazing train was of tho fiercest, as tho twisted rails show. Tho survivors of tho first train narrate that tlioy heard tho hum of tho approaching express. Somo thought it i was from an aeroplane. NO DOCTORS FOR HOURS. PATHETIC INCIDENTS. " (Rec. September 3, 11.10 p.m.) London, September 3. 0 Tho asccnt to Aisgill is tho highest a piece of railway line in England. Tho . gradient is 1 in 100. / Tlie sceno of tho accident is in the heart of the Peimines and is surrounded by, bleak hills with only a few scattered cottages in the vicinity. There is but little water available, and doctors and nurses woro unobtainable for somo hours after tho collision. Tho railway officials aroused tlioso in tho sleeping cars and made tho pas- I sengers alight. Many of tho women woro only partially dressed. Tho passengers did not realise tho seriousness of tho afceident until a 1 voico out of tho darkness criod: "Men B wanted to help! No women wanted." Tho men, running up, saw a desperate c scene. The destruction, fcaused by tho £ outbreak of fire completed tho tragedy. The neighbouring fanners and shepherds assisted tho police to rescue the J imprisoned victims until tho flames beat back tho resellers. Many sobbed to see hands wavintj K attract attention after it was cviiMnthat they must be left to he buriit B alive. . In one case eight passengers tugged at an elderly man who was pinned at t; tho waist, uiitil his clothes were pulled I off and his flesh was torn. ,As tho flames p crept up tho man kept crying out: "For God's sake pull mo out!" Every fow moments tho resellers had to draw back from tho scorching heat. Finally they made a final dash and pulled the mail out just as the burning woodwork released his waist. In another caso a clergyman, seeing B that it was impossible to succour a man pinned underneath tho wreckage, raised his hat and offered up a prayer. A Mrs. 'Morrison, who was return- „ ing from a holiday with her children, J- 1 was badly injured. Tho baby in her ' arms was rescued first. The mother's 1 words we're:—"Don't bother about mo —find tho children." Three children are among tho nil- jj identified dead. j| It is impossible as yet to make 'a 'j> list of tlie lulled and injured. In.sov- 0 , oral cases tho sex is unknown; in other P i,;!) 303 tho only, .pjppf is tkat of

bones found ombedded among tho | charred remains. Tlio lire was apparently caused by tho illuminating gas which escapcd from the tanks beneath tho carriages. The disaster raises the problem as to whether electricity should not bo substituted as a railway carriage illumiuaiifc. This was discussed in connection with tho Hawes disaster in 1910. Sir Arthur Douglas was travelling from Glasgow to Gloucester. Ho passed through a critical experience whilo ho was pinned under the burning carriago —a terrible ordeal for a man of advanced years. He 'is now in tho Carlisle Infirmary, whither six porters carried him. Ho is suffering from severe burns both on his feet, hands, back, neck, head, and thigh. (Rec. Scptomber 3, 9.35 p.m.) ' London, September 3. Fifty-three persons are still missing. THE HAWES DISASTER. The Hawes disaster took place on Decern ber 25, 1910. Tlio Midland express, bound 1 for Glasgow, with 500 holidaymakers aboard, was running at a spccili of GO miles an hour when it overtook two light engine's travelling at about 20 miles an hour. The express crashed into tho light engine* with terrible impact flinging thorn over an embankment after carrying them along for a distance of 150 yards. A fire broke out on tlio express* and there were scenes of horror, ami considerable loss of life. The accident was due to a signalman's error. The accident occurred in darkness, in a wild mountain region in the heart of the Pennine chain. SIR ARTHUR' DOUGLAS. Sir Arthur Douglas, Bart., who is amongst the passengers seriously injured, was resident in Now Zealand "for. many years. Ho. is a native of Devonshire, and i 9 the third son of the late Sir Robert Douglas, Bart., who for five years was Governor of Jersey,, and for a similar (period 'Lioutcnant-Govorrjor at tho Caipe of Good Uope. Sir Arthur, after completing his education at Harrow, and Stubbington House, Hampshire, entered the Royal Navy in ISSB, and in 1873 was appointed instructor to the Naval .Artillery Volunteers at Liverpool, a ppsition which ho relinquished three or four years later in order to come to Now Zealand. . He arrived in Wellington from London in the ship Ocean Mail. During the Russian war scare in 1885 Que was employed as naval staff officer in Wellington, ■ and two years after that ho was appointed secretary to tho Council of Military Education and staff officer to the Artillery, with the rank of major. In 1891 lie was transferred to Lyttelton as officer com- 1 jnanding the Permanent Militia there, and in 1895 ho became Under-Secretary for Defence, ne 'returned to England somo years ago.