FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENTS IN VICTORIA.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1161, 5 April 1884, Page 1

FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENTS IN VICTORIA.

Melbourne, April 5. A terrible railway accident occurred last night about 10 o’clock on the Horsham line, near Little River station, about 30 miles from Ballarat. A passenger train came into collision witli a special cattle train from Melbourne at a curve, the drivers being thus prevented from seeing each other, and two persons were killed and many severely wounded. The trains met with a terrific crash, and the engines became blocked, with their ironwork flattened and funnels touching. The tender of the cattle train was thrown off the line, and the first truck was completely demolished, the second was turned with the wheels uppermost, the roof of the third was shattered, and the fourth broken into fragments. The fifth and sixth trucks were thrown off the line with the ironwork contorted. The train consisted of 35 trucks. The tender of the passenger train was thrown

off the line, and the wheels buried up to the axles, the tender itself being almost destroyed. The second class carriage, which was next the tender of the

passenger train, was smashed to pieces. It contained twenty passengers, nearly all of whom were injured, some being pinned to their seats by broken timber. Among these were Mrs Beath, whose thigh was broken, Anna Feet, injured internally, Mrs Milne suffering from concussion of the brain, and Mrs Phoebe HaH, seriously injured and now in a state of coma. Kitchen, the driver of the cattle train, who was the driver in the Hawthorne accident, was jammed between the engine and tender, and died shortly after. A woman (name unknown) in a second class carriage was injured internally and died. Craik, the driver of the passenger train, was jammed by falling coal, and had his ‘ thigh fractured. Six others were severely injured, and several slightly injured. W. Collard ' Smith wa 8 slightly injured on the arm, and Thomas Gumming, who was a passenger, was uninjured. The engines of both trains have been rendered useless by the collision, and great damage has been done to the rolling stock. Traffic for some time was suspended, but has now been restored. It has been ascertained that the stationmaster at Werribee, whose name is Biddle, was absent at a concert when the collision occurred. He left his daughter, aged 14, in charge of the station, and is thus alleged to have caused the disastrous railway accident near Little Eiver station. He has been suspended, and the Government have decided to institute an enquiry into the circumstances under which the accident occurred, outside of the departmental investigation. The girl gave the start to Kitchen, the driver of the cattle train, and telegraphed that the line was clear. Several doctors arrived on the scene about 1 a.m„ when the injured were attended to and sent on here t It” was raining at the time of the accident, and bonfires were lighted to keep the wounded dry, Latest telegrams from Little River give the following list of the injured : Miss Adams, of Bandridge, severe shock and internal injuries ; Miss Davies, injured head, and now in a comatose state ; Miss Dawson, badly shaken ; Mrs Phcabe Hart, Latrobe street, severe shock ; Walter, the fireman of the cattle train, has severe internal injuries and ribs fractured ; McMurrie, guard of the passenger train, shoulder dislocated and wound on the temple, A lady (name unknown) had ber nose fractured and was severely shaken. Another lady had her leg broken. Another accident occurred last night on the Echuca line at Sunbury, twentyfour miles from Melbourne. The boiler of the engine burst, and the drive r was severely hurt, and ia not expected to recover. The fireman’s body, quite dead, has been found some distance from the engine, where it had been blown by force of the explosion.