LONDON FLOODS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19213, 20 January 1928, Page 9

LONDON FLOODS.

INQUEST ON VICTIMS. {BT CABLX—PJUBS ASSOCIATION—COPTTOOB.T). (AUSTRALIAN AND ■ K.Z. AND BUN CABLE.) LONDON, January 18. At the inquest on the ten victims of the Westminster flood, the Coroner, in giving his verdict, said that he was not satisfied that sufficient attention had been paid to the safety of certain sections of the Embankment. A policeman gave evidence of water often jetting from the walls in high tides. He did not report it because he did not think it was dangerous. The Town Clerk of Westminster said that there was a breach of 165 feet in Grosvenor road and two breaches in the Duke of Westminster's, property. The council controlled neither- . The County Council's chief engineer gave evidence that the riverfront was regularly surveyed, and showed no instability.. The tide at Westminster on January 7th was at least a foot above the century's record. Water jets had never, occurred sufficiently to cause alarm where the walls were now collapsed. The Coroner emphasised the fact that the disaster was due to unprecedented conditions. Water heaped at the Thames mouth simultaneously with an unusual tide. An enormous amount of water was descending, and therefore it would be unreasonable to blame anybody.