OHAKUNE FATALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 May 1916, Page 8

OHAKUNE FATALITY.

FURTHER DETAILS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Yesterday. Tt is understood that the explosion in the tunnel near Ohakune occurred at a 31) yesterday afternoon. The quarry belongs to the Railway Department. The Public Works Department is at present building a railway from Ohakune to Raetihi, and, as a good deal of material is used for ballasting purposes, the Department obtained the right to take metal from the quarry in question, and was working it at the time of the explosion. The practice in getting out metal is to drive a tunnel into the face of the rock and put in a heavy charge of explosive, so as to bring down from 800 to 1000 tons from the face. In the present case it is stated that tunnels .had been driven and the men had taken ex plosives in. There were in all eight men in the tunnel at the time of the explosion, Mellsop (the engineer) being with them.

No theory can be advanced at present for the cause of the explosion. Mellsop and twe others were blown clean out of the tunnel. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. Taihape, Yesterday. An explosion took place in the railway quarry at Ohakune at 520 yesterday afternoon, by which six men lost their lives. Men were loading a drive with explosives, which was to 'have been exploded next Wednesday, >vhen a premature explosion took place, burying some men and throwing others clear. Two fuses had been put in and the search was delayed, fearing a second explosion. The men killed are G. H. Mellsop, assistant engineer, H. Larking, cadet, Arthur Davies, overseer, P. McGarry. laborer, ond another whose, name is unknown. Three bodies,were recovered last night and two this morning. One has not been recovered. Men were got fiom Huntly, and they are continuing the search. Many tons of stone came down. The two injured men were brought to Taihape hospital. Both are laborers, Michael Shcehy and Morgan. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION. Wellington, Last Night. The latest information received by the Minister for Public Works regarding the explosion is that three tunnels had been put into the face of the cliff. No. 1 was 30ft. long, and Nos. 2 and 3 each 60ft. long. No. 1 was not charged, No. 2 was charged ready for firing, wiiile No. 3 Aaa been charged and tamped. While the men were filling in the concrete the explosion occurred in a most inexplicable manner. One body was thrown 300 feet from the mouth'of the tunnel into the bush. All the bodies have been recovered except that of Torrens, and a search party is still looking through No. 3 tunnel for his remains. A peculiar feature of the explosion is that there was very little debris. Some fell from the roof, but the rest scattered owing to the force of the explosion. The Minister states that he has sent Mi. W. R. Short (Under-Secretary), Dr. Macf.aurin, and Mr. Murray (Acting-Kngineer-in-Chief) to the scene of tlhe fatality. The Minister adds that he had no information jf the disaster until fl o'clock last night, otherwise someone would have been sent to the scene earlier.