TWO MEN KILLED

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31343, 13 April 1967, Page 1

TWO MEN KILLED

Truck In River Two men were killed when their truck broke through the railings of the Rakala Gorge bridge and plunged 60ft Into the river between 8.30 p.m. and 9.15 p.m. on Tuesday. One of the men was Richard Clive Richards, aged 39, married with six children, a builder, of Alford Forest road. Methven. Late last evening the police had not released the name of the second man as they had not been able to get in touch with his parents, who live in the North Island. The accident was reported to the Methven police at 12.30 a.m. yesterday by the Methven Postmaster (Mr W. G. D. Nlcholl) who was returning from a meeting. He saw that about 20ft of railing had been smashed from the side of the bridge and that a small saw bench was standing on the bridge. A search in the darkness by Constable L Jackways, of Methven, was unsuccessful. Another search was made at daylight with the aid of a jet boat and the bodies were found about 8 a.m. on the side of the river about a mile down from the bridge. It was not until about 9.30 a.m. that the truck was found in about 15ft of water. The position of the truck in the water was marked with a rope yesterday.