FLOOD DISASTER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 April 1938, Page 7

FLOOD DISASTER

FINDING AT WAIROA INQUEST DEATHS BY MISADVENTURE. SUDDEN AND APPALLING EVENT. By Telegraph.—Press Association. WAIROA, April 5. That each of deceased was found dead on the shores of the Kopuawhara Stream below No. 4 camp, Kopuawhara Valley; that deceaseds met their death by drowning in the Kopuawhara Stream at approximately 3.45 a.m. on February 10; that deceaseds’ deaths occurred by misadventure arising directly out of phenomenally severe flooding of the Kopuawhara Stream, which occurred suddenly during the hours of darkness, whereby No. 4 camp was completely swept away and destroyed; that the evidence shows that deceased would in all probability have been rendered unconscious before death by moving boulders and logs in the stream, and so would have been incapable of assisting themselves to safety—this was the finding delivered by the coroner, Mr V. E. .Winter, at the conclusion of the inquest into the deaths of 19 of the victims of the Kopuawhara tragedy late yesterday afternoon. The coroner added that, from the evidence given, he was satisfied that the dumping of spoil from the tunnel into the stream had nothing to do with the disaster. “It is quite clear to me,” he said, “from the evidence that has been given by all witnesses, that something very much out of the ordinary occurred in Kopuawhara and the surrounding districts on the night of February 18. It is something perhaps, that has never before been heard of in the history of New Zealand. I had an opportunity of visiting the locality and the scene of desolation and devastation was so astonishing that it conveyed something to me of the terrible ordeal of that night. “I am convinced that everyone in the camp that night is deserving of the highest praise. I take this opportunity again to express sympathy with the relatives and to express the hope that the survivors will have a happy future and forget the horrors of that night.” The coroner also paid a tribute to, the police, engineers at the camps and witnesses for the manner in which they gave their evidence.