EXPLOSION FUMES CAUSE DEATH

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27410, 24 July 1954, Page 9

EXPLOSION FUMES CAUSE DEATH

CORONER’S VERDICT AT INQUEST

When the inquest into the death of Albert John Zimmerman, aged 43. was concluded yesterday, the Coroner, Mr E. B. E. Taylor, returned a verdict that Zimmerman died on March 9 from

acute pulmonary oedema as a result of inhaling nitrous oxide fumes while working in Mr Church’s mine at Homebush on March 8. Sergeant H. McLean conducted the

inquest proceedings for the police. Mr P. H. T. Alpers appeared for the relatives. Mr T. A. Gresson for the owner of the mine, and Mr G. Smith, of Dunedin, for the Mines Department. George Marsh, a coalminer, said that he and Zimmerman were working in the mine on March 8, though in different sections. He described the firing of shots in the mine in the afternoon, and said he heard Zimmerman cough when he went back into his section. He told Zimmerman to come out “as it must be pretty thick in there.” They had a cup of tea about 2.30 p.m. or 2.45 p.m., and Zimmerman seemed in his usual health when they parted. Alfred Leslie Church, a mine owner, gave evidence of seeing Zimmerman in Christchurch that evening, .and said he thought Zimmerman had pneumonia. Zimmerman said “the monobel had got him” and that it was his own fault as he had gone back into the mine before the smoke cleared. The witness took him to his home, got him to bed, and called a doctor. Zimmerman was taken to hospital later. Dr. B. Heine, a house surgeon at the Christchurch Public Hospital, said that Zimmerman was admitted to the hospital at 9.30 p.m. on March 8 and was given immediate treatment, but he died at 12.40 a.m. on March 9.

Dr. C. T. B. Pearson, a pathologist, said he conducted a post-mortem examination on the body of Zimmerman, and in his opinion the cause of death was acute pulmonary oedema. To Mr Alpers: The general state of health was satisfactory. The oedema, in the absence of any organic disease and from the characteristic latent interval between the exposure and the onset of the symptoms, was caused by exposure to the fumes of nitrogen oxides. He understood that those fumes could be caused by the explosive monobel. among others. It could be treated if the patient was got in time. To Mr Gresson: He could not see any room for a difference of medical opinion in this case. Accidental Death The Goroner returned a verdict that Joan Violet Boumer, aged 26, died at the Sunnyside Hospital on July 5 from failure caused by cerebral lacerations and a fracture of the skull, the injuries being Suffered when she fell while she was a patient in the hospital.