PINNED IN WRECK

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 705, 3 July 1929, Page 7

PINNED IN WRECK

TWO MEN CRUSHED IN “BABY” CAR COLLISION WITH TRAM Labouring frantically with chisels and heavy hammers, engineers strove to release two injured men from the wreckage of a small motor-car in Wellesley Street yesterday afternoon. The remains of the car were hacked to pieces before its occupants could be lifted out and placed in the waiting ambulances. The injured men were:— James Laing, aged 49, of 51 Surrey Crescent, Grey Lynn, driver of the car. Broken ribs and abrasions. Injury to leg. Robert McEwan, West Street. Mount Albert. Injuries to leg and ankle. Both are reported to be in a satisfactory condition, though they are suffering from shock. The accident took place at 3.45 p.m. and half an hour elapsed before Mr. Laing was ’ rf was not un.4o p.m. that Mr McEwan was 'ifted from ... o. aotal jammed between a tram and a centre pole. SMASHED AGAINST POLE As a city-bound tram driven ny motorman E. White was proceeding down Wellesley Street, the “baby” motor-car, both occupants of which were in the frc| . seat, moved out of Kitchener Street to the middle of Wellesley Street opposite the Y.M.C.A. building. According to the account of an eyewitness Mr. Laing was turning round the tramway centre-pole to go toward Queen Street, when the car appeared to lose speed. The tram crashed into it from behind. So great was the impact that the little machine was forced against the pole, completely smashed, and wrapped round the foot of the pole in a tangled mass. The men, who had no chance to jump clear, were jammed in the wreckage. Mr. Laing was forced back in the seat, the whole of his body and his left shoulder being pinned down by the twisted body-work. Mr. McEwan was held from the waist down, and lay beside the front wheels of the tram. Two St. John Ambulances arrived and. while a big crowd filled Wellesley Street, engineers from the Checker Taxi depot and nearby shops rushed suitable gear to the scene. A doctor arrived and. helped by the ambulance men. did all that was possible to relieve the sufferers while the car was being demolished. ATTACK ON WRECKAGE Held back by a cordon of police constables the crowd watched the engi'eers attack the wreckage with hammers, hacksaws and crowbars, labouring to release the injured men from their terrible predicament. The confined space between the tram and the pole hampered the workers, and it was found impossible to move the tram back without danger of further injury to Messrs Laing and McEwan. Similar difficulties prevented the tram from being lifted sideways from the rails. In the meantime city traffic was diverted up Queen Street and Anzac Avenue. A break-down motor-car arrived and stood by. As the wreckage was taken apart, piece by piece, the injured men. who bore the ordeal with great fortitude, were seen to be suffering from intense pain and shock. At 4.15 p.m. Mr. Laing was jifted out, placed in an ambulance and rushed to hospital. Twenty-five minutes later Mr. Me Ewan was released. Both men had a marvellous escape from death by crushing, and it was indeed fortunate that the petrol lying in the wreckage and on the roadway did not take fire in the smash.

The only damage to the tram was a broken front step. When It was towed from the scene the wreckage of the car was simply a bundle of metal, unrecognisable as a motor-car