BIG TRUCKS WRECKED

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28801, 23 January 1959, Page 8

BIG TRUCKS WRECKED

Driver Severely Burnt

fNow Zralano Pro. assoetdnoni NEW PLYMOUTH, Jan. 22. A man was seriously injured when two timber trucks collided and burst into flames on a backcountry road near Ohura today. The damage to both big vehicles is estimated to total £lO,OOO. • The injured man, who is in the Taupiarunui Public Hospital in a serious condition, is Mr G. W. Nussbaumer. aged 36, married, of It is believed that the brakes on Mr Nussbaumer’s truck failed oil a straight section of the Berrow Mangkkara Valley road. He shotted a "warning to the driver dr' an oncoming loaded truck, Mr B. Reubens, who swerved his vehicle before jumping clear. .Mr Reubens was unable to give the other truck roots to pass, however, because the road at the point drops away to a stream 50ft below. When the trucks collided the petrol tank of Mr Reubens’s truck exploded, and the breeze swept flames along the length of the other truck, igniting the 50 gallons of diesel fuel it carried and trapping Mr Nussbaumer. Mr Nussbaumer fought his way clear of the flames but suffered extensive burns. The wrecked trucks completely blocked the road and separated the drivers, so Mr Nussbaumer started to walk towards Ohura. He was picked up by Messrs A. E. Holton and E. J. Benbow, who had been advised of the accident by a farmer. The farmer had been travelling behind Mr Reubens’s truck and had returned to his home to telephone advice of the accident. , ■ Both trpcks are owned by Allen Mills, Ltd. One of them was reduced to a heap of burnt, twisted metal, and the other was extensively damaged. The Ohura Fire Brigade fought the blaze for two hours before the fire was extinguished.