ANOTHER RAILWAY FATALITY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 126, 28 May 1914, Page 6

ANOTHER RAILWAY FATALITY.

j . •j A WOMAN KILLED. CHILI) BADLY IN.II'REP. -\ woman is a«i.T and her granddaughter lies in a precarious condition in the hospital with both her feet cut off : above the ankle as a result of a shock- . ing accident that happened last night at tiie Otahuhu railway station. Mrs. . Atiiiie A. Aukett. aged .It!, and wife of 1 a prominent storekeeper in Otahuhu. .fell off the Main Trunk express which I |axrived at Otahuhu at (j p.m. and her 1 jgrand-daughier Dorothy T. Aukett. a • three-yiear old child, was also thrown - to the ground, the wheels of the train 1 passing over both of them. They were . both taken to the hospital. Mrs. Aukett . dying on the way as a result of her terrible injuries. The hospital authorities . give little hope for the recovery of the ; little one. 1 A peculiarly sad incident in conneef tion with the affair is that the mother ■ of the child was away at the time and I did not. learn of the accident until this I morning when she arrived on the Main - Trunk express. It was at tirsi thought : that she was aboard the train last night. •1 as a lady was seen to have fainted at ■ the sight of the accident, und for a time - il was thought that the lady was the ' child's mother. The mother is only ! years of age and she was in a piteous ' condition this morning when she learned of her bereavement. I As far as can he learned. Mrs. Aukett and the child were coming out of the > train just as it was about to move from - the station. The spot wis dark and ( Mrs. Aukett did not notice that the train was on the move. A lady im- • mediately preceded Mrs. Aukett. who stepped out after the train had moved a - few yards, and was instantly hurled with her grand-daughter under t.he car. . The wheels ran right over her loe- and over Ihe feet of the little girl. Several , pansengcr- who witnessed the accident immediately signalled the guard lo stop, and lite train was brought to an immediate halt. The woman was found to ' he unconscious and the child in a fright- ' fill condition. Nurse Frickcr. who was aboard the train, rendered lirst aid. but 1 it was soon sevn that the woman was . too far guile to recover. A telephone ' message was dispatched to a doctor who ' arrived nn the scene about 15 minutes later. In the meantime a wire stret--1 cher was brought from the ofticc of one • of the clerk's at the station, un.l on ' this the injured were placed and put into ! the guard's van and brought into Aurk- ' land, arriving about 20 minutes later. Besides having her legs run over it. was found that Mrs. Aukett's arm was badly ' broken un.l >he h.id also sustained severe injuries to her head an.l face. > Mr. Charles 11. Aukett. father of the ; child is a porter at the (Itahtihu station, but wa.- not on duty al the time of • the accident. He learned of the affair [ short!v afterwards, and lustily proceeded to' Auckland hospital, oniy to lind that his mother vva. dead and the child ' dying. His di.-lr.-s was pitiable in the ' extreme, and he was almost ili-trartH at not being able to lind his wife. l-'.ve witnesses of the affair si ite that. ; nn blame i- attachable to any of the [ railway ..flicials. the accident having been caused solely throngh a misreil.il- , lation on ihc part oi the unfortunate I ; woman. .I A coronial inquiry concerning the . 1 death of Annie Aqtlilla Aukett- was. opened thU 1110 ruing .. I the Coroner's Court, before Mr F. V. Fra_cr. P.M. Charles Henry Aukett. railway porter, of Otahuhu. identified the body as that of his mother, who had lived at Ota--1 huh it. The inquest was formally adjourned till -.I."' p.m. to-morrow at the Magistrate's Court. \