DREADFUL ACCIDENT

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1893, 20 January 1885, Page 2

DREADFUL ACCIDENT

FALLING-IN OF A TUNNEL, THREE MEN BURIED, From the N.Z. Times. Last evening intelligence reached town that an accident had occured in a tunnel on Mr S. Brown's section of Wellington and Manawatu Railway, extending between Pukerau and Paikakariki, by which four men had, through a fall of been entombed, The distance between tlfe ejty and the scene of the catastrophe is great,' and tljig a<jde/j tg the fact that there is no telegraphic' communication near to the scene of the accident, rendered it somewhat difficult to obtain a clear, succinct, and Indeed an intelligible account of the affiiir, For business purposes the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company have established a telephone station at a hut about a quarter of a mile distant from Mr Brown's railway camp at Pukerau and the town. By this means tho news reached the city, and through the courtesy of Mr Wallace, secretary, and Mr A. R, W. Fulton, resident engineor of tho Company we have gleaned the following particulars The first news of the affair was tolopjionecl by Mr Laughton, overseer for Mr Brawn. ' Mr Laugjitoi) informed Mr Fulton tfyat'a fall of rotten rock Had taken place, and that there were four men burled in the debris. t Subsequently the following information' was sent through A party of twelve men had accepted a a contract to widen the extreme ends of No 8 tunnel, which is situated about half a mile, from Brown's Camp and also to clear it frqnj f}oor to dome, a distance of about 15ft, ■' The stuff, tliqugh qujto <jty, was considered treacherous, and was known to the men as rotten rock. It may perhaps be better described aa .being of a loose, shingly -slate formation, and consequently the utmost oaro was necessary in widening the drive and in effecting the requisite height. For this purpose the tunnel had to bo timbered, and the enlargement having beon made, the utmost circumspection had to be observed in taking the timber out, preparatory to the tunnel being "lined"'or bricked, This; latter portion of the work was jn eojirsq of progress when yesterday's disaster ijkpilen'ed,' Jt ntay here be stated that, for the n|oro expedi tions working of tho tunnel, the bripk: layers had put in a lot of lining in tho centre of tho tunnel, in order that tho work of bricking might be prooeeded with from the contro on either side, Tho subcontractors for tho earth work had removed a portion of the lathes from the'roof yesterday afternoon, at the time mentioned, when, without the slightest previous warning, the heavy timber supporting the roof gave way. The affair was so sudden that liine of tl]e"feon men so employed had only just time to reach tjje portion of the "tiinn'ql wlifyV'the 'l;oq£ fell in, The tunnel is about 200 yards in length- from: end to' end.' 4s soon' as those who had escaped i'covered ifrom their fjjjgjjt, they their nijiqheii and asertaineu that three qf their party were missing, the names of these •being- Peter George, Henry Lloyd, Matthew Panzadetti. Word was at qnce depaiehet} to '}fr Laij#jn who arrived at jijje p|aco wfthqijt delay. : The men alqng the line congregated in large numbers and volunteered to endeavor tq reaoqe the poor fellow who.had been buried, Mr onoe' subdivided the- willing intosmall shifts,.who were at sh®*' Intervals' relieved by Tresh gangs. "The wofk at -first- was -diacouragj^'■''."•An" immense • amount of fallen right'up to the bricked the,.tunnel,... aftdithe ■ dokls being of suoh a loose nature, a very, longtime elapsed before the men could '

get a faco of the stuff. Eventually, how-, ever, the workers heard a faint human voice, and after a few more minutes Panzadetti called out that.he was quite clear from any earth, and could use his limbs. He further stated that there was another block of earth behind him, through which lie could hear the faint groans of another man, who, from his cries appeared to bo badly hurt, All efforts on the part of Panzadetti to ascertain who the -rriaiivbejhiiidJuin,iif4Ke:;(liiVb' was;pVavcd'. : fmit-' less. _ Mr Lauglitoii-' telephoned-.to % Fulton-toiend mSdical assistan wjjut 'thef arliestopoirtunitv; and adtmg'iipjan;. ;this.advicei : .l)r Qlllon left last s, for Piik'ertia Bay, where rit 'srSsi;: the men, •shouldviheyiß# reeled last night,, either.ta;Palkato2dor toPajramatta: -

%: to; the "time of going impress nofurtn&r palrticplars were to hand;'' "

(By telegram this aftemcibnr)i

The;feM.gang at Pu£erua:'have;m£. / , covered- Paiidazetfci • siifficimitly' #>•. riourishrnent. to be given him/,'; It is .n'ot expected;; that, the other, "men" wffl "l>s rescued dive.'.'*. •