SIX KILLED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 235, 4 October 1937, Page 9

SIX KILLED.

CAR LEAVES ROAD. GLEN AFTON PEOPLE. ADULTS AND CHILDREN. 30FT PLUNGE WTO STREAM. When the car in which they were travelling left the road and plunged 80ft down a sheer bank into a stream Alongside the Waingaro Road, three miles from the Waingaro Hot Springs, Into on Saturday afternoon, three adults' (and three children lost their live*.

The victims were: Mr. William Henry Cole, aged 61 miner, of Glen Afton. Mrs. Nelly Cole, aged 41, wife of Mr. Cole. Irene Nelly Cole, aged 11, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Cole. Mr. John Nicolson Adams, aged 66 married, miner, of Glen Afton. Thelma Dellaway, aged 9, daughter of Mr. F. G. Dellaway, miner, of Glen Afton, and grandchild of Mr. Adams. Betty Dellaway, aged 6, sister of Ihclma Dellaway.

Mr. William Cole, a «on of Mr. and *lr«. Cole, lc*t his life at the same spot under identical circumstances on August 23, last year. Ten motor vehicles have crashed into the same •tream within the past three years. The accident occurred at a sharp bend 4M the party was returning home from the Waingnro Hot Springs. The winding road along which the car was proceeding is regarded a* a dangerous stretch. When approaching the corner Mr. Cole swung across the road to •void an o-pproaching car driven by Mr. C. K. Smith, of Te Akau. The car got out of control, left the road and plunged down 30ft throngh thick undergrowth, to somersault several times and come to rest on the rock bottom of the stream about 20ft from the bank. The fadiator was in 6ft of water.

Brave Rescue Attempt. Mr. Smith scrambled down the bank face and swam to the car. He succeeded in extricating Mrs. Cole, a heavily-built woman. He placed her on the top of the car and, with the assistance of a passing motorist, Mr. D. Bland, of Pukemiro, applied artificial respiration without success. Endeavours to remove the other occupants yrere unsuccessful.

A call for volunteers was made in Pukemiro and Glen Afton, 50 miners responding. By the light of miners' safety lambs and the headlamps of cars, which were trained on the spot from the road, the men worked. A Pukemiro Carrier, Mr. W. Best, brought lengths of timber from a bush mill four miles eway, and a pontoon was built to bridge the gap between the bank and the •wrecked vehicle. The body of Mr. Cole was found at the wheel and the Other four occupants were found huddled m the back seat, from which Mrs. Cole fcad already been removed.

The car, removed yesterday afternoon *with the aid of a small crane, was extensively damaged by the impact with Che bottom of the stream. Evidence at Inquest. A verdict thai death in five eases {was caused by asphyxiation following injuries, and in one case by drowning, iwas found by the coroner, Mr. F. Harris, at the inquest yesterday afternoon. An examination by Dr. G. B. Isdale, of Ngaruawahia, showed that the death of Betty Dellaway was due to drowning.

The coroner made strong comments •on the condition of the road »t the point where the accident occurred. He •aid that, in hie opinion, it was a deathtrap to any two cans that should meet there suddenly, and he thought it necessary that something should be done at the corner by banking the road on the outside. The level of the road dropped outward toward the river instead of feeing banked up; it was not so much the width of the corner as the narrowness of the approaches that had caused the trouble.

Colin Kenneth Smith said that he saw STr. Cole's car approaching on the wrong aide of the road at a speed of not more -then 25 m.p.h. It was 10yds away when witness first saw it. Mr. Cole Jiad veered sharply but slowly to the left, continuing to swerve until the «ar disappeared over the bank.