FATAL SMASH

Hokitika Guardian, 23 July 1930, Page 6

FATAL SMASH

• TRAIN HITS LORRY. (By Telegraph—Per Press Association.! OTAKI, July 23. John Stewart, aged 29, was killed yesterday, as the result of a collision between his motor lorry and the New Plymouth express. Stewart was driving a motor lorry for his brother-in-law, and at about . 11.30 a.m. was going over the railway line at Fraser’s crossing, s nine ! miles south of Otaki, when the north- j bound New Plymouth express crashed; into the lorry broadside on, and car-; ied -it :fifty feet 'before depositing it! upside down past the cattle stops. Stewart’s head, face and chest were ■ badly " cut and crushed and both his arms were broken. The bodywork of the lorry was ruined while the cowcatcher of the' train was also damaged. Stewart was conveyed to Otaki Hospital by a private car and succumbed to his injuries shortly after, his arrival. The crossing where the accident occurred is not a dangerous one, vision being unobstructed for approximately one mile on' the south, and half a mile on the norm. Deceased, had .'lately been out or permanent employment, and leases a widow and a few weeks old- baby. An inquest will be held at Waikanae on Thursday morning. As a result of the collision, the New Plymouth express was nearly an hour late in arriving at Palmerston North.