TRAIN IN A RIVER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 183, 9 January 1912, Page 3

TRAIN IN A RIVER.

\ PLUXGE FROM A BRIDGE IN THE DARK. N FIFTY LIVES LOST. A terrible accident occurred in a thick fog before dawn on Xovember 23 on the ill-fated State-owned Western Railway of Fiance. Weakened by floods, a bridge over the River Thouet,' on the line between Angers and Poitiers, collapsed beneath the weight of a passenger train and the two engines, « luggage van, and three carriages fell into the swollen stream in the darkness. It was estimatj ed that fifty lives were lost.

The train left Angers at about five o'clock in the morning. It consisted of one first-class and three third-das* carriages, with a luggage van in front and another behind. Owing to the incessant rain the little River Thouet, which the State railway crosses by a bridge sixty yards long near Montreuil-Bellay, was in high flood. The previous night the bridge, which was said to be one of the oldest on the system, was in part washed away.

As it is situated in a little-frequented region, the condition of the bridge was not known to the authorities at Vauldenay, and the Poitiers train was unhesitatingly allowed to pass in the early hours of the morning. It was pitch dark and a dense fog prevailed. The instant the front engine was on the bridge the metal work collapsed, and the engine plunged headlong into the swiftly flowing stream, dragging with it the other locomotive, the front luggage van, and three carriages," and leaving the rest of the train standing on the metals. Only one of the carriages remained with its top emerging from the bubbling waters.

I A scene of indescribable terror ensued. The passengers in the carriages whick had escaped sprang to the ground, and fled shrieking with terror into the surrounding darkness, while from the swirling torrent below came piercing cries, j mingled with resounding crashes as tk« 1 current swept parts of the wreck against the piles of the bridge. Those of the escaped passengers who, had preserved their presence of mind stood on the edge of the yawning hole in the bridge, and, powerless to render assistance, watched men and women J drown before their eyes. The boats which are generally moored at the foot of the bridge had been carried off by the stream during the night.Some gallant but futile attempts at rescue were made, and an heroic passenger named Bouiliet was. drowned in trying to lend assistance to the passengers struggling in the river. One after the other "the passengers, grasping at the sides of railway carriages j or snatching at trees or fragments of wreckage, were relentlessly swept down ' the stream and vanished in the murky ( waters. ' J

I Presently a little ;band"of survivors, eleven in number, assembled oh the top of the carriage which still emerged from the river. There was • a man; subsequently known to be the Count de Loiray, a little girl, and .men* and.' women-of different ages and stations... Their hair and garments were dripping with water. They lifted their arms imploringly tp the watchers on the river bank. : It' was not until evening that they were at last brought to safety by the reScue'rs. t l ' In the meantime a telephone > message sent from the station nearest the bridge had summoned a relief traiK'from Saumur, and a large force of railway employees, with doctors and rescue appliances, was quickly on the scene. Villagers came up from all directions, many arriving in boats from Montreuil-Bellay. The rescue operations, wrere.extremely difficult owing to the' force of the current, and two of the rescup,.boats were jambed against the bridge and, field there. A raft was made with.'plajiks ipd barrels, and a number of corpses'.,were recovered, including tho' bodies of three nuns. The guard of the train was among the dead, but the stoker was rescued - after he had a'isree for two hours. 'i'v* -ii -■ •.

The grave charge'is made'»gainsl> the administration of the /State vrailfray.'thfct for the past two years the engineere of the line have reported the? darigeroMs. condition of the bridge,.and',>haye madeono secret of their apprehension. Jhat ty catastrophe was inevitable.-,- A ty'ghfpffjcja! of the Western Railway,sai4',tshftt jt.wasi&ll very wejl to talk ab/mt, .the;, flood, ttmt that the Thouet bf idgp, was ths oddest on the line, and was original}} 7 ;jbui)t for engines of 50 tons, and not for the 1,20ton machines now in use.

Coming after a chain 'of'deplorable'afr cidents on the State-bwtt'ed'railway, nearly all of which have been' caufefid' by the faulty condition of the System, ■ihe' accident has produded it most profound impression, i ■''- ":; <:■:> ' I : i -' -:r a >