RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 111, 3 February 1908, Page 6

RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

TRAIN CRASHES INTO A COACH. A WOMAN KILLED. * OTHER PASSENGERS INJURED. (bt, telegram—press association.) : Nelson, February 1. A'. serious railway accident occurred at. a' crossing near Appleby Station at. 12.20 p.m. to-day. /'• A, train to Nelson was approaching tho crossing when tho, Nelson-Motueka coach, driven by Charles Briclilands, attempted to cross in front. . Tho horses had cleared the rails when the ongino crashed into tho Jorepart of the coach, which was smashed to pieces. ; There wero three passengers by tho coach, and ono of them, Mrs. Tilbury, wife of Mr. A. J. Tilbury, of Lower Hutt, was killed instantly, her body being terribly Wangled. She evidently was thrown through the side of tho coach, and the wheels of tho engine'• passed over her body. Both legs'! were severed. . Her sister, Miss''Susan Waltert, was. thrown clear of the train, and.iS suffering from shock and-bruises. It 1 is not anticipated that her injuries will prove serious. Miss Fittall, daughter of Mr.- Alfred Fittall, of Richmond, was seated on the box, i and, sho also, fell clear, of . the train,ibut ..is suffering from a broken thigh. The driver of the! coach, Charles, Brichliinds, was picked up unconscious from: the ruins of the vehicle. -He was seriously'injured internally, and is in a critical condition. '■/. ; . The of Mrs. Tilbury and the injured wore placed on tho train and .brought on to Nolsoil, where the latter, were taken'to tho hospital. ' Tho view both ways at tho crossing is not obstructed by trees, . and it is' difficult to understand why tho coachdriver, a careful ;uan, who is accustomed to tho ro4d, failed to see the train: approaching.; The coach is in the custom of crossing the line some time beforo the train- reaches 'that place, but owing to.the anniversary holiday tho train arrangements to-day were altered,' and probably Brichlahds was . not kware of tho change. 110 is not yet able to give any account of the matter, i. - ... - Mr. and Mrs. Tilbury were on a holiday visit to Nelson, and Mr. Tilbury was following tho; coach on!a bicycle. , * Nelson, February 2: Those injured "in yesterday's coach accident are making favourablo progress, though' the condition of tho driver is still very, serious. The inquest opened this morning on the 1 body of Mrs.. Tilbury, and, after formal evidence was taken, it was adjourned till Feb- • ruary 13. " ■ -- ••• 1 (nr TELEGRAPH—SPECIAL COBRESP<V - nEST.) '' ' ' 2. • " Nurse Fairhall, of the Nelson Hospital ■ staff, had,a remarkable escape in connection -. with the coach : accident ,as she was waiting for the coach at'y little distance s from tho, spot where the accident haippened. < The horses were uninjured. !' i ; A light wind partly carried away , tho sound of the engine's and a hedge to'a cer--3 tain extent obscured 'the-linte;-' 1 r > ■' 7" - Mrs. Tilbury was a resident of'Blackbridgo, s Upper Hutt,' and was about twenty-fiyo years lof age. .She was. on,.a holiday.visit to Nel--7 Eon, accompanied by her husband and child* i and her sister, Miss Walters.