CROSSING FATALITY NEAR SHANNON

Grey River Argus, 10 April 1948, Page 4

CROSSING FATALITY NEAR SHANNON

P.A. PALMERSTON N„ April 9. One man, an Italian, was killed, and two Maoris were injured, when a truck was struck by the Napier- Wellington express at Makerua crossing three miles north of Shannon, at 1.3 b p.m. to-day. The man killed was Luigi Michele Noaro, middle-aged, a market gardener, of Opiki. He was th e driver of the truck. Those injured were Robert Rare, a middle-aged Maori, employed 'by Noaro, and Peter Heremaia, aged 19, also employed by Noaro. The train, which does not. ston a! Makerua, hit the truck with terrific force, pushin o- it over an embankment a few yards from the crossing. All three men were thrown clear, Noaro being found some 25 yards further along the line. Four nurses, who were passengers on the train rendered first aid, pending the arrival of. the doctor from Shannon, and the victims were then taken by ambulance to the Palmerston North Hospital. The three men had been loading empty sacks on the truck at Makerua station, 200 yards north of the crossing, and were returning to Noaro’s gardens at Opiki. The road from the station to th fi crossing runs parallel with the line, and then it turns' at right angles up the sharp incline to he railway. Though 1 the view is not obstructed, the vehicle was proceeding in the same direction as the train. As a result of the accident the train was delayed about half-an-hour.