TON OF BRICKS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 62, 22 December 1945, Page 5

TON OF BRICKS

CRASH ON CROWDED EXPRESS FIREMAN ON ENGINE KILLED (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright.) (Rec. 9.30). MELBOURNE, Dec. 21. More than a ton of bricks crashed from a shattered overhead railway bridge as a crowded express from Melbourne thundered through Fish Creek, near Goulburn, at 50 miles an hour early this morning. A fireman on the second engine was killed and a disaster narrowly averted.

As the crowded express sped through the cutting beneath the bridge, the wheels were barely inches from masses of brickwork beside tlie track. Passengers screamed and some women began to panic When the express was brought to a halt, throwing them from their seats.

A few minutes before the express reached the spot, a truck had smashed into the parapet of the bridge which spans a 40ft deep railway cutting. A 15ft section of the bridgework was shattered and crashed into the cutting. Some of the brickwork landed less than six inches from the rails.

Portion of the brickwork was left hanging from the parapet, and when the express, which was baing drawn by two engines, thundered through the cutting, the vibration caused the remaining brickwork to fall. A number of bricks struck a stanchion beneath the bridge and ricochetted into the driving cabin of the second engine, striking the fireman above the heart. The driver immediately applied the%rakes.

Passengers who crowded round the smashed brickwork were amazed that the bricks had not fallen directly on the track. The train was- delayed 40 minutes while another fireman was obtained.