26 MEN RESCUED FROM RIMUTAKA TUNNEL

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26832, 10 September 1952, Page 8

26 MEN RESCUED FROM RIMUTAKA TUNNEL

Trapped For Nine Hours By Fall Of Earth TEAM WORKING TO FREE ONEJOREMAN (New Zealand Prest Association) WELLINGTON, September 9. Twenty-six of 27 men who were working on the Mangaroa end of the Rimutaka tunnel spent more than nine hours today trapped behind a heavy fall of earth about 3000 ffeet from the mouth of the tunnel. The other, a 28-year-old Greek, Athanassios Athanassiabes, was injured by the fall, which occurred at 11.30 a.m., and was still trapped late to-night. Mr Athanassiabes was farthest from the mouth of the tunnel, and was cut off from his companions.

As soon as word of the fall was taken out of the tunnel, a rescue team of 80 men was organised, and they worked unceasingly on a crawl hole from the top of the slip face and dropped through to the trapped men shortly before 9 o’clock to-night.

Late in the afternoon communication had been made with the trapped men through the ventilation pipes, and it was ascertained then that but Mr Athanassiabes were safe and well.

Mr Athanassiabes is believed to be only slightly injured, as a steel mud car is sheltering him from the full weight of the fallen rubble. It is believed that he is being held down by one of his ankles by the mud car. Rescuers are working feverishly to clear a way into the second chamber created by the fallen roof, and they hope to reach Mr Athanassiabes early to-morrow morning.

The secretary of the Labourers’ Union (Mr P. M. Butler), who watched the rescue of the 26 men, said that it was carried out with remarkable dispatch. Nobody had panicked. , Several of the men’s wives waited anxiously at the mouth of the tunnel for the last two hours of the rescue, and there were emotional scenes as the men were brought , out of the tunnel on an electric locomotive.

The foreman for the men who were working in the tunnel was Mr L. Kremmer, who said that all the men behaved well in the tunnel after the fall of eartli. The men spent the time till their rescue sitting on the electrie locomotives that were within the slip. The locomotives gave out only a small glimmer of light from their headlamps. Efforts were made to rescue Mr Athanassiabes soon after the main fall occurred, as he had been cut oft by a comparatively small amount of spoil. They burrowed into this, and were within a few minutes of getting him out when another fall occurred, and he was completely cut oft. Three-quarters of an hour before the main body of men were released they heard Mr Athanassiabes calling from beyond the second slip. Mr D. Troon said that the only food

the men had was two lunches which had been brought in by two of the married men. It worked out about a quarter of a sandwich each. They had plenty of tobacco, but they had to be careful about smoking in case they fouled the air in the tunnel, and they had no idea how long they might have to stay there. Within a quarter of an hour of the men reaching the outside of the tunnel they were enjoying a hot meal. The Rimutaka tunnel, which will connect the Wairarapa plains with Wellington, will be five miles long when it is completed. The tunnel face when* the slip occurred is about 24 miles from Wellington. A story of a lucky escape was told by Mr T. McDonald. He was working on the "right*’ side of the fall, he said, but “only just.” A pipe was brought down by the falling earth, and ne was thrown with it against the wall of the tunnel, from which it bounced back, throwing him outward toward the tunnel mouth. He picked himself up and started running. He thought an earthquake had caused the It is believed that the rescue party may be able to dig its way through to Mr Athanassiabes between 2 a.m. and 3 a m. to-morrow.