KILLED IN A TUNNEL.

Shannon News, 29 October 1926, Page 3

KILLED IN A TUNNEL.

AGED CHINAMAN'S DEATH. Ngan Lie, a Chinese gardener (aged 66), of Qtaki, died in the Wellington Public Hospital on Friday as the result of injuries received through being knocked down in one of the tunnels near Paekakariki at ,4 a.m. by a goods train from Wellington. After the accident, the deceased was quickly placed in another train at Paekakariki and taken to the city. Onthe way in he was examined by Dr. Wright at Johnsonville, and when the train reached Wellington a waiting ambulance convoyed him to the hospital, where he was admitted suffering from severe injuries to the head and body, Half-an-hour later he died. The coroner's inquiry concerning the death of Ngan Lie was heard before Mr. W. G. Eiddell, S.M., yesterday afternoon. Francis Henry Thomson, the driver of tlie train, gave evidence that he noticed someone on the line ahead, just before entering the last tunnel on the Paekakariki incline at about daybreak on Friday morning. Witness immediately sounded Ms whistle ani applied the brakes, but the engine struck the man. The speed of the train was about 20 miles per hour. The coroner, in returning a verdict of accidental death, remarked that the deceased was an elderly man and apparently was not well acquainted with, different trains and their running. No blame was attachable to the driver, who had taken every precaution to avoid the fatality.