LEVEL CROSSING SMASH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3020, 8 April 1926, Page 3

LEVEL CROSSING SMASH.

ACCIDENT AT LEVIN.

Another serious level crossing accident occurred at 4.5 p.m. yesterday, when the downward New Plymouth express smashed into a lorry at the Tyne Street crossing, a mile and a half north of Levin. The driver of the lorry, Thomas Johnston, a married man, received severe injuries to his head, and was removed to the Palmerston Hospital suffering also from shock. The lorry was completely wrecked, and owing to the cow-catcher and other portions of the engine being damaged, it was impossible for the train to proceed. As a result the engine of the Auckland express, which was waiting at Levin for the arrival of the New Plymouth train, so that it could proceed on its journey, had to be commissioned. It brought the New Plymouth train into the Levin station, and the engine was then attached again to the Auckland express, which proceeded to Palmerston, reaching there about an hour and a half after scheduled time.

Johnston, who is about 40 years of age, is a married man with no children, and is employed as a driver by Alfred Mottershead, of Levin. At the time of the accident he was engaged in carting metal. On arrival at the Palmerston North Hospital, Johnston was immediately examined, and it was found that his injuries were much more serious than was at first anticipated. He is suffering from a badly fractured skull, and also from internal injuries. He is in a very critical condition, and it is not expected that he wll survive.