TWO DISASTERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 October 1920, Page 5

TWO DISASTERS.

PARIS EXPRESS WRECKED. HEAVY DEATH ROLL. By Talejraph,—Pr««s Asan.—Copyright. Faris, Oct. 10. The express train running from Paris to Mantes collided with a goods train at Houilles. Eight coaches were telescoped. Thirty persons were killed and 100 were injured. The disaster was due to breakdown of a goods engine, the driver of which was about to switch on to another track and to warn officials at Houilles so as to enable the e.v ss bound for Mantes to pass. Owing, however, to a declivity the heavily laden wagons advanced beyond the points and obstructed the main line under a footbridge. The driver of the express, seeing the danger, applied the brakes and reversed the engine, but the speed was such and the impact so terrific that his engine and tender climbed over the goods wagons and capsized. The first two coaches buckled one on the other, and the third lifted to the height of the footbridge, which cut through the roof and made the result more as the coaches, like those of most of the suburban trains, had a covered upper deck for oiftside passengers. The train was crowded, mostly with workers domiciled at Mantes. Six coaches were completely smashed. One crashed on top of a signal box, killing the signalman. Thirty-eight bodies hare been brought to Paris for identification.—Aug-N-Z. Cable Assn. SMASH AT VIENNA. GEAR OUT OF ORDER. A SIGNALMAN INTOXICATED. Rome, Oct. 10. Twenty-six persons were killed in a railway accident on the causeway at Venice, including a Socialist Deputy Bombacci. .Received Oct. 11, 5.5 p.m. London, Oct. 10. The Milan correspondent of the Daily Chronicle states the Venice railway disaster was much more serious than was at first reported. Excluding corpses recovered, other passengers were hurled into the sea and drowned. No help was forthcoming for several hours, a passenger having to walk three miles to Venice to convey the tidings. At a preliminary inquiry it was stated that the signalling apparatus was rusted, and worked imperfectly, while the signalman was intoxicated. The signal lamp at the rear of the train was so obscured by filth that the driver of a train bound from Trieste to Rome could distinguish the color only a few yards distant.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

A GERMAN TRAGEDY. AT ADMIRAL SCHEER'S HOUSE. By Telejraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Berlin, Oct. 10. Reports from Weimar state that two masked men entered Admiral von Sheer's residence and assassinated his wife and maid, and seriously wounded Ms daughter. The motive is unknown. One murderer, an artist named Buechner, committed suicide and the other fled. Von. Scheer was sleeping in an upstairs room when the murders occurred. The bodies of the victims were discovered in, a coal cellar.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.