THE TRAIN FATALITY

Hokitika Guardian, 11 July 1923, Page 1

THE TRAIN FATALITY

[BY TELEGRAPH —I’ER PRESS ASSOCIATION.]

THE FIREMAN’S ESCAPE

TAUMARUNUI, July 1).

All the bodies with the exception of those of .Mears. Moyne and Hunt now have been removed from Taumarunui hv relatives.

The progress of the injured was reported as satisfactory to-night. The injured fireman, Campbell, is twenty-seven years of age. and Served i'o- three years at the war. Since then he has. spent about six years in the railway service. His brother from Palmerston North interviewed the sufferer o i Sunday and tho fireman told him the engine was proceeding down the ini lino w ith steam shut oil'. He was sit--1 iug dow'ii with his arm resting on the sill of the call cm the 101 l side when he saw something Hash past the engine, and this he thinks was the boulder. When the engine fell over on its side his coat was caught, between the engine and the luck and he was pinned down. The steam injector was broken in the -mash. One end of the pipe was turned towards, his body, scalding him all the time. He struggled hard to free himself and fell the driver pulling lull'd at him. The driver, however, could not- see him for strain, and he thought he was pullig in the wrong direction. Campbell mice more made a struggle and almost gave himself up lor lost w'neii an extra wriggle freed him from the engine. When he gut out ol the call he had to walk in iev cold water as far as the postal van. His hoots wore filled with water and his feet began to freeze. He felt done and called lor help-. Eventually someone came, and found him lying in the wet and frost. His hoots then were removed and his foot were rublied for sometime before lli" circulation was restored. He thought that his end bad come while he was lying unattended in tiie irost. Campbell’s injuries are all on tho right side. He is very badly scalded 1 roiu tho right oyc Lo tho hack ot the ear and on other parts of the body. , |e also sustained cuts on the no-e and mi one ear.

RESTORING THE LINE. TAIM.VRUNUI, Bull The huge crane from Auckland did wonderful work in clearing the lme ol the debris of the engine ami broken larriiu'es. Work was continued in -jiifts "all Saturday and Sunday, and th,. hist shovelful of ballast was spread on th<> new portion of line about ; >-30 ~ni on Sunday, the first, tram to pass through being a goods Dorn Tnumartiimi at L p.m. on Sunday. the scene of tin di-asicr was visited by numbers oi settlers and residents ol Ongariic, and the (Tearing operal ions were watched with interest. The damaged engine and partly damaged ear D were drawn up to the Ongariie railway station, and the debris was briined in hmi] s on the hanks. Among the delu-is toiild he seen broken iron frames of tho w reeked second- ( lass carriages. These were so badly broken that one could readily imagine the force of the impact and the reason for so many mangled bodies among Lbe victims. On tile side of tno track were also seen a gas cylinder intact and another one which had been either smashed or exploded. further tilling was the cowcatcher of the derailed engine. It was severely twisted and bent up, evidence of the rough handling it bad reieivcd in ilie collision with tlw t lirec-Lon Ijouldor.

Tito hillside from winch the boulder ;iixi other mat «*i i;*l I’d I show ;i fair

L£:i|> Ma li as i- seen ill hillside slips. It is not a. dangerous looking overhanging ilili, hut an ordinary looking hillside on a grade and overgrown with fern and scrub. There are far more danger-ous-looking spots on the main trunk line than this. Kul local expert., say i; is nevertheless a bad spot, in fact some consider that the whole of the face at Ibis bend is on the slide towards the riier. and that at some time in the past there has been a huge slip there v.lmli narrowed the river into a small List running torrent such as it is just below Ongarue township-. The rail wav officers are exceedingly ■ oatcfnl for the line spirit shown by the men of till' Public Works Depart - met. i iiimediately 1 lie accident was notified to them at Okalmkurn Mr A. C. Ikisennd. assistant engineer, and Mr S Holmes, foreman, discontinued ilie

dav's work nil I l:o Malicre section dI: 111 ii \\ ;IV ; 11M1 ilil!l|»!-(l illt'l I lu> ClHcri‘!!t'v. organi -ing all hands anil placing them ai ilia disposal nf 1 In- Hallway Department. This hand of willing workers sot oil' .at oil* I .* lor tho ~,• iho accident. and tinder tho ahlo lotidol'.liio of Mr Holmes did splendid r, ork until relieved by railways votLeis. \|. K' llar. resident'engineer. did not lent- of tiie catastrophe till S a.in., and .... ; i. more than oral i lied to hear that his men at Okaknknra had responded to duty's tall v. it hunt waiting for orders. It was one ol those occasions which called for prompt action and initiative without appealin'; for formal instructions, and odicers and men are ; , he commended lor their foresight.