SIX KILLED

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 150, 7 April 1930, Page 6

SIX KILLED

CROSSING TRAGEDY.

TRAIN RUNS INTO MOTOR BUS.

9 FIVE OTHERS BADLY INJURED

(Per Press Association.) WHANGAREI, April 6. Wliat is believed to be the worst railway level crossing accident in the history ox New Zealand occurred at 6.5 last evening, when an Opua-bound express, carrying visitors to the Whangarei races, struck one of the buses owned by the Northern Motor Bus Company, which was coming from Hikurangi with a load of young people going to the pictures in Whangarei. A tremendous impact occurred on McGeod’s crossing, near Hikurangi. , As a result the bus was completely smashed and hurled some distance, and of the eleven occupants four were killed outright, one died before arrival at Whangarei Public Hospital, and another, whose case was hopeless from the outset, succumbed this morning. Another, Philip Sparks, has extensive fracture of the skull, and the outlook for his recovery is bad.

The Dead. Those dead are as follows: SYDNEY JOHNSON, aged 15, son of Mr Joseph Johnson, Hiku-

rangi. GAVIN DAVIDSON, aged 16, son of Mi* Robert Davidson, Hikurangi. JAMES ROTHWELL, aged 17, of Mountain Road, Hikurangi. IRENE DARWIN, aged 15, whose parents reside at Peria Road, Matamata. EDNA WILSON, aged 23. of Kesteran Avenue, St. Heliers Bay, Auckland. • ANDREW FREW, aged 17, of Hikurangi. The Injured. The injured are:— EILEEN TROTTER, extensive wound on right foot, scalp wounds and body abrasion,, and suffering severely from shock. She was operated upon on Sunday morning, and is doing well. LEWIS MARTIN, aged 16, of George Street, Hikurangi, wound on scalp Fracture of the skull was suspected. but examination under an anaesthetic showed that this was not so. The patient is doing well. NOEL WILKINSON, aged 21, driver of tl%> bus. compound fracture of left shoulder blade and suffering from shock. He was operated upon on Sunday morning, and his condition now is good. TREVOR DOEL, aged 14, whose parents reside at Hikurangi, extensive wounds on left thigh and injured scalp. He was orverated upon on Sunday morning. His condition is good. PHILIP SPARKS, aged 15, whose parents reside in Hikurangi. This was one of the most serious cases admitted to the hospital. The youth was suffering from extensive head) injuries and shock, i Examination under an anaesthetic on Sunday morning revealed an extensive fracture of the vault of the skull. He was still unconscious this afternoon, when it was not expected that he would recover. The tragedy occurred with such suddenness and the survivors are so badly injured that an accurate story cannot be obtained. All that can be stated definitely is that the race train, hound for Opua, and the bus travelling toward met on a level crossing. The night w<*s dark and drizzling rain was falling. . The dead and injured were conveyed m private cars to Whangarei Hospital, the ward of which was like a casualty clearing station during the war.