TWO THIS WRECKS IN HIED STATES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 213, 8 September 1943, Page 3

TWO THIS WRECKS IN HIED STATES

BOUND FOR NEW YORK Nearly 100 Deaths In Smash Near Philadelphia N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 10.30 NEW YORK, Sep. 7. Two serious railway wrecks have occurred in the past few hours. The Congressional Limited express met with disaster near Philadelphia while en route from Washington to New York. The death roll is estimated to be nearly 100, and about 120 of the 541 passengers are injured, many of them being near to death. The New York Central Railway Company's Twentieth Century Limited express, travelling from Chicago to New York, was wrecked at Canastota, 20 miles east of Syracuse, this morning when a locomotive boiler exploded, killing three members of the crew in the engine cab and injuring at least seven others. The .locomotive, mail car and nine of the 15 passenger cars were derailed. Four of the cars plunged down an embankment and others were strewn on the track. Philadelphia Disaster The last crumpled coach of the 16-car Congressional Limited express, wrecked near Philadelphia, was cracked open to-day, yielding four more bodies and bringing the known number of dead to 62. Dr. Goddard, the Philadelphia coroner, estimates the ultimate death toll at from 75 to 100. At-least 123 passengers were injured. The railroad company said it is possible that more bodies will be found in the tangled metal of one coach. The crash occurred on a curve in a crowded residential district and brought down high-tension cables and a water tower which flooded the wreck. The top of one car was torn off as if by a giant knife. The steel framework of another was twisted so badly that the first rescuers on the scene were unable to find any opening through which they could reach the screaming injured inside. The authorities made an urgent appeal for blood donors and assistance. Acetylene torches were used in an attempt to rescue many who were trapped. A priest who administered the last rites said that at least half the people in one carriage were dead. Extricating the Victims Hours after the wreck rescuers were still struggling frantically to extricate the victims. Thousands of spectators gathered and watched horror-stricken as searchlights played on the wreckage.' The two carriages in which most of the deaths occurred rolled to the edge of an embankment. One was cut in two by a signal tower and the other crumpled like an accordion and trapped nearly all the occupants. The Congressional Limited is one of the best-known trains running between Washington and New York. The divisional manager said the wreck was due to a burned-out bearing. The speed limit where the wreck occurred is 45 miles an hour.

The crash occurred on a curve in a crowded residential district and brought down high-tension cables and a water tower which flooded the wreck.

The top of one car was torn off as if by a giant knife. The steel framework of another was twisted so badly that the first rescuers on the scene were unable to find any opening through which they could reach the screaming injured inside.

The authorities made an urgent appeal for blood donors and assistance. Acetylene torches were used in an attempt to rescue many who were trapped. A priest who administered the last rites said that at least half the people in one carriage were dead. Extricating the Victims Hours after the wreck rescuers were still struggling frantically to extricate the victims. Thousands of spectators gathered and watched horror-stricken as searchlights played on the wreckage.' The two carriages in which most of the deaths occurred rolled to the edge of an embankment. One was cut in two by a signal tower and the other crumpled like an accordion and trapped nearly all the occupants. The Congressional Limited is one of the best-known trains running between Washington and New York. The divisional manager said the wreck was due to a burned-out bearing. The speed limit where the wreck occurred is 45 miles an hour. Worst in U.S. Railway History The New York Herald-Tribune describes' the Philadelphia train wreck as the worst disaster in American railway history. At least 100 physicians and hundreds of nurses were rushed to the scene. Even the motor cars of holi-day-makers were commandeered to transport the injured to hospital. Many injured were sent to near-by churches and remained there until accommodation was available. The confusion was so extensive that no effort was made to identify the dead until several hours after the disaster, but many victims could not be identified because of mutilations. The passengers included a number of Government officials, as well as servicemen, but the majority of the injured were holiday-makers returning to New York. The highest rleath roll in any previous raihvav disaster in the United States was 115. This was in a train wreck at Aasnville, Tennessee, on July 9, 1918.