A FATAL COLLISION.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9064, 3 February 1908, Page 5

A FATAL COLLISION.

WOMAN KILLED AT NELSON, OTHER PASSENGERS INJURED. Press Association. Nelson, Feb. 1. A serions railway accident occurred at a crossing near Appleby station at 12.20 to-day. The train to Nelson was approaching the crossing when the Nelson and Motueka coach, driven by Charles Bricklands, attempted to cross in front. The horses had cleared the rails when the engine crashed into the forepart of the coach, which was smashed to pieces.

There were three passengers by the coach, and one of them, Mrs Tilbury, wife of Mr A. J. Tilbury, of the Hutt, was killed instantly, her body being terribly mangled. She evidently was thrown through the side of the coach, and the wheels of the engine passed over her body. Both legs were severed from the trunk. Her sister, Miss Susan Walters, was thrown clear of the train. She is suffering from shook and bruises, but it is not anticipated that her injuries will prove serious. Miss Fittall, daughter of Mr Alfred Pittall, of Richmond, was seated on the box, and she also fell clear of the train, but suffered a broken thigh. The driver of the coach, Bricklands, was picked up unconscious from the ruins of the vehicle. He was seriously injured internally, and is in a critical condition. The dead and injured were placed on the train and brought on to Nelson, where the latter were taken, to the hospital. The view both ways at the crossing is not obstructed by trees, and it is difficult to understand why the coachdriver, a careful man who is accustomed to the road, failed to see the train approaching. The coach is in the custom of crossing the line some time before the ’train reaches that place, but owing to the Anniversary holiday, the train arrangements today were altered, and probably Bricklands was not aware of the change. He is not yet able to give any account of the matter. Mr and Mrs Tilbury were on a holiday visit to Nelson, and Mr Tilbury was following the coach on a bicycle. Nelson, Last'Night. Those injured in yesterday’s coach accident are making favorable progress though the condition of the driver Bricklands, is still very serious. An inquest was opened this morning on the body of Mrs Tilbury, and after formal evidence was taken it was adjourned till February 13th.