SIXTY-SEVEN KILLED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 June 1938, Page 7

SIXTY-SEVEN KILLED

THE CLUSTER CREEK TRAIN DISASTER BODIES BURIED IN MUD AND WATER. THIRTY PERSONS TRAPPED IN TOURIST CAR. NEW YORK, June 20. It is estimated tha 67 persons were killed when a transcontinental express train, travelling between Chicago and Seattle, plunged into Custer Creek, near Saugur, Montana, when a bridge, which had been undermined by heavy rain, collapsed. The engine, the baggage car, the mail car and the four leading passenger cars fell off the wrecked bridge into the flooded waters of the creek. The engine crew, the baggage man, and the mail clerk were among those who lost their lives. Nearly 30 persons are believed to have been trapped in the tourist car, which is submerged in mud and inaccessible to workers. Another car balanced on the edge of the collapsed bridge while the passengers escaped. Fifteen minutes later it plunged into the creek, burying itself in the mud and water. The dead and injured include many women and children. Many bodies are unidentifiable and it is feared that many who are buried in the mud or washed down the river will never be found. ,< The bodies of the driver and fireman were found inside the twisted locomotive cab. The mail clerk was pinned in his car as the engine knifed through it. Rescue workers and survivors smashed the windows of the cars and waded through the debris searching for the bodies of the injured. A relief train picked up 50 injured, and a large number was treated for minor injuries. Four carriages, which were undamaged, remained on the track.