BURIED ALIVE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 268, 2 February 1928, Page 1

BURIED ALIVE

RELIEF GANG’S DESPERATE FIGHT SIX BODIES RECOVERED Ca jj c . Press Association. — Copyright. n ADELAIDE, To-day. Si* of the men who were entombed by a landslide, which demolished a railway tunnel between Belair and Blackwood, near Adelaide, yesterday, are now dead. Another man is injured. The list of the casualties is as follows: DEAD C. WILKINSON, of Unley. , VV. KILMARTIN. North Adelaide. PAUL PAT, Adelaide. CHARLES SMITH, Adelaide. jerry COSTELLO, Adelaide. r, LAFFERTY, Coromandel Valley. The last-named was alive when extricated. but he died in hospital. INJURED ' ARTHUR NEWCOMBE, Balhannah. Other members of the gang wore only slightly hurt. When discovered, Kilrnartin and Costello were clasped together. Working in heavy rain and thunder ind lightning, the relief gangs fought desperately throughout the night to release the entombed men. The weight of the falling earth had forced one side of the tunnel slightly Inward and when the express from Melbourne passed through to-day the cars were only just able to clear the opening. While the rescuers worked their efforts frequently caused small landslides and the men were forced to leap aside to escape falling boulders. The first two entombed men to be released were extricated with comparative ease, as they had been imprisoned on the fringe of the debris and were able to crawl out with little assistance. After many hours of strenuous efforts, the bodies of the dead and the survivors of the gang were dug out. —A. and N.Z.