WOMAN INJURED BY TRAIN

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21747, 1 April 1936, Page 12

WOMAN INJURED BY TRAIN

PETITION PRESENTED TO PARLIAMENT

ACCIDENT ON EVENING OF DUKE'S DEPARTURE

[From Our Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON, March 31. The accident that occurred on the Lytteltcn railway station on the evening of the departure of the Duke of Gloucester, is recalled in a petition which has been presented to the House of Representatives by Mr T. H. McCcmbs < Government, Lyttelton), on behalf of Lilian Georgina Marquet. The petitioner states that on January 21, 1D35, she and her son were standing on the station at Lyttelton waiting for the train to Christchurch. There was a large crowd on the platform, and as the train drew in the crowd surged forward. She and her son were pushed over the edge of the platform and under the slowly-moving train. Luckily, her son was pulled out just in time, but she was not so fortunate. The wheels of the carriage so injured her legs thr' jne was amputated at the thigh ana the other badly lacerated. The accident has unfitted her from undertaking duties like housekeeping, and her husband is compelled to engage help. The petitioner states that last year, following her petition to the House, the Railways Board granted her £IOO. Part of the money was spent on an artificial limb. She had received no compensation by way of insurance. The accident, she contends, was due to the crowd surging forward, She points out that in an ordinary accident the claim lies against the responsible psrty, but that in her case the fault could not be traced to an individual, therefore she had no legal remedy. She asks Parliament to grant her the compensation which, she claims, she would be entitled to in other circumstances.