STRANGE TRAGEDY

Hokitika Guardian, 15 September 1931, Page 5

STRANGE TRAGEDY

ON RECLAMATION AREA. I—'By Telegraph—%(er Press Association) WELLINGTON, September 14. When returning from gathering firewood on the reclamation area, at Thorndon, this afternoon, Ernest William Dockrell, ‘.a waterside worker, agfd about '3B years, slipped, and was subsequently found dead in the mud on the reclamation area. Dockrell and a companion were taking a short cut homewards across the reclamation, shortly afer 4 p.m. The circumstances of the mishap have not yet been ascertained definitely but it is understood that Doekrell’s companion, who had preceded him on the trip across the reclaimed land, found a soft patch, and there had become bogged, Dockrell managed to reach a culvert',' and it is believed that his boots, having been made slippery by h : s passage across the mud, slid on the hard surface, throwing him down. Looking across, his companion, who was. still in the mire, saw him flat on his face and called for help. A passer-by heard the calls and they came to his assistance. They dragged him out of the mud, and then went across to Dockrell, but they found that he was dead. The cause of his death is not known and it will be derided by the' Coroner.