MOTORING TRAGEDY

Evening Star, Issue 19801, 27 February 1928, Page 6

MOTORING TRAGEDY

MOTHER AND TWO CHILDREN KILLED CAR PLUNGES SOFT [Per United Press Association.] BLENHEIM, February 27. A fatal accident on the BlenheimNolson road occurred at about 11 last night, near Ruapekn, about four miles on the Nelson side of Havelock, at a spot where several accidents have happened in recent years. A car driven by Mr James Hickey, win was accompanied by his wife, Jessie Hickey, his daughter Lily (aged ten), and his son Maurice (aged three), a lad namedMervyn Stewart (thirteen), and a man named Bernard West, all Nelson people, who had been visiting Blenheim for the week-end, was proceeding to Nelson, Just after passing a car driven by Mrs 11. White, Hickey’s car plunged down a 30ft bank into 15ft of water. Mrs White noticed nothing wrong, but Mr Charlie Manic (of Itni Valley), who was motoring immediately behind Hickey, saw the accident, and rendered assistance.

All but Mrs Hickey and her son and daughter managed to get free of the car. The lad Stewart was sent to hospital with injured shoulders and suffering from severe shock, while three are dead. The bodies of Mrs Hickey and Lily Hickey were recovered from the submerged car at 8 this morning, Maurice Hickey’s body being found three hours later. The indications are that all were dead before the car struck the water. The little boy had a fracture of the base of the skull, the girl suffered a broken neck, and the mother had serious head injuries.