KAIWAKA TUNNEL ACCIDENT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2669, 8 December 1923, Page 4

KAIWAKA TUNNEL ACCIDENT.

HEROIC STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. HOW DIMOND WAS RESCUED. The Hawke’s Bay Tribune’s reporter tells of the thrilling experience of Dimond, the rescued man in the tunnel disaster. When the reporter left the scene of the accident at 7.10 on Friday moring, Dimond had then been buried underneath tons of .debris for 14 hours. He bore his suffering’s with marvellous fortitude and never winced, although his position must have been causing him untold agony. As soon as the fall occurred the workmen in the camp set to with zeal and courage to rescue their unfortunate comrades. The fall of rocks and earth had brought down a huge scaffolding, several steel girders, and a certain amount of concrete. Groans were heard near the end of the fall, and with these as a guide, the rescuers, in the face of continuous dangers, began to dig a tunnel through to Dimond. At first it was impossible to reach him owing to the danger of loosening the fall, which was supported in several places by beams. However, the rescuers got in about 6 feet of packing, constructing a passage as they went.

The next step was more dangerous. By means of a small hole scraped through the debris it was possible to touch Dimond as he lay jammed in a hole against the side of the tunnel. When Dr. F. N. Harvey and Dr. 0. F. Bernau arrived from Napier it was decided to give something in the way of a stimulant to the buried man. Dr. Harvey first of all gave him a little whisky and later on two injections of morphia in his knee. This relieved Dimond considerably.

Further investigations disclosed that Dimond was in a half sitting position with a heavy rock weighing down bis head and shoulders. His* face was practically buried, and his legs were jammed by a huge rock on top of a scaffolding beam. After persistent efforts had been made, Dimond’s face was half uncovered, and he wps able to smoke a cigarette, for which he asked.

Owing to the arduous and dangerous nature of the work the rescuers had to work in relays. Only one man at a time could get near Dimond, and even then he had to lie fully streched out. At the end of the fall other workers were busy cutting timber with which to support the earth and rocks. At 11 p.rn. the rescuers had so far progressed n their work that Dimond was being fed with a tube.

The work of rescue was painfully slow. Each time a man came out there was another to take his place, and thus the procession went on. Midnight came and passed," and Dimond still lay jammed. Then ode o’clock, two, three. By this time his shoulders had been freed and his face uncovered. But it was still impossible to act quickly owing to the fact that one false move might bring tons of debris on top of Dimond and bis would-be rescuers.

From one o’clock onward rumblings could be beard in the collapsed portion and at times further falls would take place. “I have been buried four times myself,” said one man in the tunnel, “but this affair Ims knocked me up. Every time Igo into that rescue bole I tremble like a leaf. Poor old Chailie is a hero if ever there was one.”

Just as the rescue work progressed and the nerve-shocked men redoubled their' efforts, so the rumblings and falls would increase. All that was saving the rescuers and Dimond from instant death was a huge mass of twisted scaffolding which supported the fall. By 5 a.m. Dimond had bis arms free and was helping to rescue him-

self by scraping away the rocks that held him tight. The big lump of papa which bad jammed him in the first place bad been cut away with saws, but his left leg was severely pinned. That was the problem'which confronted the\rescuers —how to free his legs. Another disadvantage which the rescuers had to face was the fact that Dimond was buried in a hole beneath the level of the tunnel and it was well-nigh impossible to find out what was the best method of freeing his leg. Right up to 7 a.m. be was smoking cigarettes and drinking tea.