THE RAILWAY DISASTER.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 72, 17 March 1914, Page 6

THE RAILWAY DISASTER.

MOST TERRIBLE IN N.S.W. 11 KILLED; 30 INJURED. SYDNEY, March 15. ■Late advices this evening state that 14 people were killed and bO injured in the Exeter railway disaster.

_ Ci-nfusion still exists in the identification of the killed and injured in the disaster.

Latest advices, giving a corrected list of the killed, are: Heaver, sen., Arthur Heaver, Alice Heaver, Mail-guard Brav, J. C. Minnis, Mrs Minnis. G. L. Pollard, Mrs Clarke, Fred Kurzenhagen, Misses Eglington and Shelley, Mrs L. Parker, a youth supposed to be named Walker, and a woman believed to be Airs Kurzenhagen. Nineteen of tho injured have been sent to the hospital at Bowral and are progressing favorably. liie disaster is the most terrible in the history of New South Wales railways.

. iteports state that at the moment of impact the goods train was being shunt, ed on to a siding to clear the main line and allow the Temora mail to pass. A dense fog obscured the signals, and the mail crashed into the goods train, telescoping two carriages. Neither engine left the rails. First arrivals state that the -scene was one of indescribable horror.

DISTRESSING FEATURES. SYDNEY, March 15. Ihe mailvan was reduced to matchwood, and there were ghastly heaps ofhuman beings, while the screams* and groans of the imprisoned victims coming from masses of debris were appalling. The saddest feature of the accident is that of the Heaver family, who were travelling from Cootamunclra to bury Mrs Heaver, sen., whose body was oh the train. The widower, his daughter and daughter-in-law were killed and his son seriously injured. Bray, the guard of the mailvan, was about to throw a mailbag out and was killed, while his mate iVthe same carriage escaped. Another sad case is that of a father, mother ami three young children buried m the debris. The eldest child appealed piteously to her mother for lielo. The mother replied, "Love, I cannot help you children." Ultimately the children were rescued, but the parents are both dead. DRIVER'S STATEMENT.

SYDNEY, March 15. The acting-Chief Commissioner of Railways, referring to yesterday's disaster, states that the signals,"brakes and everything else were in proper working order. The drivers and firemen of both engines escaped with slight injuries. Driver Irwin, who had charge of the Temora mail, states that the distant signal showed a green light, showing the home signal up, but owing to the thick mist he was unable to see it, and reduced speed. As soon as he caught sight of the home signal at "Danger" the fireman shouted, "Hold her, for God's sake!" He- applied the bra'kes, but it was too late to avoid the collision.