CHARRED VICTIMS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 649, 29 April 1929, Page 9

CHARRED VICTIMS

FIVE DEAD IN SHOCKING BUS FIRE HEROISM AND SACRIFICE (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) Reed. 9 a.m. LONDON, Sunday. A shocking motoring tragedy occurred near Maidenhead at 9 o’clock last evening. Five people were burned to death and 15 others were seriously injured when a motor coach travelling to Reading from London caught fire and capsized. The bodies of the victims were so charred that it was impossible to identify them. The conditions of most of the injured people is believed to be critical. A loud explosion heralded the disaster. The flames, mounting 20 feet into the air, were visible two miles away. They burst forth from the fore part of the coach while it was travelling at a fair speed, and spread with astonishing rapidity. The trapped passengers broke the windows and tore the hood in their efforts to escape.

The terrific heat drove back motorists who attempted to assist the passengers to reach the open air. Scarcely one emerged uninjured.

The fifth victim, a woman, succumbed in hospital to her injuries. The survivors pay tribute to the heroism of the driver. Despite his injuries, he dragged out several passengers before rushing to telephone for the ambulance.

The stories of self-sacrifice include one of a woman lying on the roadside with her clothes burned off, saying “Don’t mind me; there are others worse.”