AWFUL DEATH.
CRIPPLE BURNED.
POWERLESS TO MOVE.
HEAT PREVENTED RESCUE.
SYDXEY, December 31
Unable to move owing to crippled limbs, Peter Joseph McDermott, 87, was burned to death in his hut at The Oaks, 10 miles from Camden.
Awakened from sleep, residents dashed to the scene. Several made plucky attempts to fight their way through the flames, but were forced back.
Buckets of water were thrown on the flames, but the efforts were of no avail.
The hut was reduced to a smouldering mass, among which the incinerated body of the old man, who was unmarried, was found.
One of the rescuers thought he heard the old man crying for help' while the crowd, helpless against the intense heat and the flames, stood by powerless to prevent the tragedy.
McDermott lived alone in the hut, which measured about 16ft by 12ft.
It is believed that a candle which was burning fell from its stand and ignited many bags which McDermott kept in his hut.
Within a few moments, the blazing bags set the hut on fire from end to end, and McDermott, who has been a cripple for years and can only move about with assistance, must have suffered an awful death.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19380106.2.105
Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 4, 6 January 1938, Page 9
Word Count
202AWFUL DEATH. Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 4, 6 January 1938, Page 9
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