ENGINE AND CAR

Hokitika Guardian, 24 November 1930, Page 6

ENGINE AND CAR

~ . . NX.NGK IXT" RIVER. [United Proas Association. —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.] PARIS, Nov. 22, A train travelling from Paris to Nantes was derailed, owing to a subsidence on the track between Gudin and' Clermont-Sur-Loire. The subsidence was the result of heavy rains. The signalman at Clermont rushed on to the line for the purpose of warning the driver of the oncoming express. He wan cut to pieces by the engine. * : ' The engine fell into the flooded River Loire. Two of the leading coaches overturned, and slid completely into the river, nearly all of the passengers therein meeting with a horrible death. The driver and smoker were killed.

: t The survivors are arriving" at Nantes in taxis and ambulances. The ■rescuers were handicapped by darkless, mud and the flood waters. They were 1 unable to get to the first coach, a first-class one, and not a single passenger in it escaped. jy-. -Nr:.:..--. The track was a tangled mass .of railp, planks, and’ twisted chassis" of the coaches, among' which the' volunteers worked in light flares, seeking for the injured. The smash occurred just before midnight. ' T'V-V'; ■■ : PASSENGERS SAFE.. PARIS, Nov. 22, . An exploration of the submerged carriages of the Nantes express has disclosed that they are empty. How the occupants escaped is a mystery. Apparently the engine-driver was the only fatality, but.ma.ny .were taken to "the "Hospital. . - ,