BODY IN SUNKEN DREDGE

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25769, 2 April 1949, Page 8

BODY IN SUNKEN DREDGE

HALT IN RESCUE EFFORTS

“MAORI PEOPLE ARE SATISFIED ” From Our Own Reporter

WELLINGTON, April 1. The Maori people of Arahura were now perfectly satisfied that everything possible had been done in the efforts to rescue the body of Frederick Tuhuru from the sunken dredge, said Mr Tirikatene, member of the Executive Council representing the Maori race, when he was asked to-day to comment on the representations made to him by the Maoris when he visited the scene of the accident earlier this week. The Maori people of Arahura had expressed great concern at the failure to recover the body, and Mr Tirikatene made a special trip to Greymouth to discuss the matter with the elders of the tribe. “After a series of official discussions I visited the Maori people at their Arahura pa and explained the difficulties of recovering the body, and how impracticable it would be to continue the efforts until the salvage of the dredge was undertaken,’’ Mr Tirikatene said to-day. “I explained that it was not a question of finance, but that if the efforts were continued now more lives would be endangered. The Maori people agreed that if other lives would be jeopardised the efforts to recover the body of Frederick Tuhuru should wait until the salvage operations were started. The question was discussed with the widow and the mother of the deceased the elders of the tribe, and the people themselves. They are satisfied now that the right thing is being done.**