CAR IN RIVER

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21366, 10 March 1941, Page 7

CAR IN RIVER

THREE DROWNED FOUR OTHERS SAVED RETURNING FROM CABARET (By Telegraph.—Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, Sunday Three persons were drown when the car in which they were returning from a cabaret crashed into the Avon River in Fendalton about two o’clock this morning. By chance a constable was near at the time and he was able to rescue four passengers, who were in the back, with the help of an Air Force officer, who also happened to be passing. Those drowned were:— Leading-Aircraftsman Gerald Livingstone Hewitt, aged 24, of Harewood, son of Mr S. J. L. Hew'itt, of Christchurch. Mrs Shirley Stewart Magee, aged 21, widow of Mr Ronald Stanley Magee and daughter of Mr R. S. H. Buchanan, of Cashmere Hills. Miss Isabel Martin, aged 20, daughter of Mr Henry Gilbert Martin, of Christchurch. Trapped In Front Seat Soon after 2 a.m. Constable G. Hart, of Lower Riccarton, on special duty nearby, heard the screech of tyres near the corner of Harper Avenue and Fendalton Road. Without suspecting anything serious he went to investigate and after a lew moments he noticed a car upside down in the Avon River with its lights burning and facing toward where it had come from. Flight-Lieutenant V. G. H. Gee, of Wigram, was passing and he and Constable Hart went into the river to rescue the passengers. Those in the front seat were trapped under the water and could not be saved. Four passengers in the back seat, however, had a small reservoir of. air near the floor boards and were dragged out alive and comparatively unharmed. They were Mrs Bernadette Pearson and Leading-Aircrafts-men Neil Geoffrey Packard, Ronald Francis Stone and Noel Roy Meyer. They had been unable to open the doors from the inside, but Constable Hart managed to open them from the outside and the passengers were dragged down under the water out of the door and helped to the bank. Pitch darkness hampered the rescue work. Damage To Car Leading-Aircraftsman Hewitt was the next to be brought out, but artificial respiration applied by the constable was of no avail. Police who arrived soon after recovered the body of one of the girls, but the body of the third victim was not found until a breakdown van moved the car. The vehicle was a modern fourdoor sedan and its roof was considerably damaged. From the condition of the front wheels it appeared that the car hit the kerbing and overturned as it descended the bank, which is about 10ft. high. From the condition of the windscreen and roof it seems probable that the three front seat passengers were stunned by the impact and therefore were unable to save themselves. GREYMOUTH VICTIM DISAPPEARS IN UNDERTOW (By Telegraph.—Press Association) GREYMOUTH, Sunday Caught in a strong undertow at Blaketown Beach late on Saturday afternoon Mr Leonard Thomson, aged 24, single, employed by Wallsend Collieries, was drowned. A member of the surf club noticed Mr Thomson signalling for help and went out with a life-saving belt, but after 25 minutes’ search was unable to locate him. Mr Thomson's relatives reside in Christchurch.