Scenes of Desolation. BRAVERY OF THE RESCUERS.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 197, 2 April 1887, Page 8

Scenes of Desolation. BRAVER Y OF THE RESCUERS.

A correspondent thus describes the scene at Bulli yesterday :— The people crowded most deneelynearthetunnelmouth, but they were alto scattered over a considerable area of truek w^y, and about the embank caents eeated women bewailing the loss of thoeo dearest to them. They had passed the night at the pit. Further on, the houses of the miners are deserted, and a few yards away, in a large stone-house on the floor, covered with newmown hay, lay the bodies all in rows ; rnoet of them badly bruised ; some frightfully mangled, and without a vestige of clothing or hair. The remains of fallen rocks tell their tale of mutilation. On the other side stands the carpenter's shop, where rough coffins are being made against time, the names of the victims being written on them in chalk, all this being done in the presence of the widows and orphans. Rescue parties rush into the tunnel regerdless of danger. For the first half-mile the air is good, and the tunnel pretty clear, but it graduadly become worse and the air thick and heavy, however undauntedly they proceed over rocks, fallen timber, and in almost absolute darkness. The sides and roofs of the tunnels are twisted as if they were matchwood. The bodies are met with here and there — the most of them being covered with rubbish. „ Occasionally some of the men in the rescuing party are overcome, and are compelled to return in a semi-unconscious state but they are not taken out at the month of the tunnel, for fear of raising false hopes.