LABOURER'S DEATH.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 224, 20 September 1921, Page 7

LABOURER'S DEATH.

KILLED B? FALLING DOOR. CORONER'S VERDICT. The inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of James Mcr.rath, who was fatally injured by a falling door at the city electric power station, near the King's wharf, on the Ist inst., was concluded yesterday before Mr. J. W. Poynton, S.M. Mr. Mackay was present on behalf of deceased's employers, the City Council, and Sergeant Brown for the police. The evidence showed that for about five years the deceased had been in the employ of the Council as a labourer, and that he was engaged in connectiqn with the erection of buildings for the city electric power house when the accident happened, one of two hulf-doors falling and striking him on the head with the result that he was rendered unconscious. At the time he was preparing, -with a number of men, to raise certain fittings t» the second storey of a building. Although the deceased wa# immediately Vemoved to the hospital he expired on admission without regaining consciousness. An examination of the doors since the accident showed that the hinges were rusty, and the wood to which they were attached decayed. This caused "the fall. The hinges were no_t visible from inside the building, being on the outside of the doors, which opened outwards. No examination of the doors which had been opened off and on for a week previously, had been made prior to the accident. It was not knowii whether (he deceased, who was an Irishman, had any relatives in New Zealand. He wae believed to have been a single man, aged about 36 vcars.

The, coroner returned a verdict that death was due to injuries received through being struck by the foiling door. He added a rider that all such projections should be inspected from time to time in the interests of public safety.