NEWS BY THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 22, 26 July 1881, Page 2

NEWS BY THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

SPECIAL TO THE POST. TERRIBLE RAILWAY CATASTROPHE. COLLAPSE OF A BRIDGE. A TRAIN ON FIEE. UPWAEDS OF 200 LIVES LOST. i from ottfl own correspondent.] Auckland, This Day. A Chicago Times' special from the City of Mexico, dated 27th Juno, says : — " The accident on the Moreles E ail way late on Friday evening loses none of its horror through the receipt of more accurate advices. The scene of the catastrophe was on the river San Antonio near the village of Mailpois. For some time past this section of the country has been ssrept by three storms, swelling creeks into torrents, and laying waste many fertile fields. Included in the general wreck was a bridge spanning the river at the point mentioned. Although known to be.unsafe, it was Btill in use when the fated train bearing a battalion of soldiers attempted its passage. The result was a crash ; the undermined supports gave way, and the engine and cars wtjre hurled headlong down the chasm. Scarcely had the magnitude of the tragedy become apparent, when a new horror was added. In the freight vans, comprising a portion of the train waa a consignment of alcohol. This took fire, and a subsequent exploion contributed much to the loes of life. Those who escaped uninjured at once applied themselves to the rescue of their less fortunate comrades, but it was some hours before the exact extent of the iragedy grew apparent. It is now known that 17 officers and 197 privates were either killed outright by the fall or roasted to death, while others sustained hurts of a more or le3B serious character. When information of the sad accident reached the city the excitement was unbounded ; crowds thronged all the news centres, anxiously awaiting particulars. Never in the history of the Republic has so frightful a casualty been chronicled, and its occurrence, it is feared, may still further prejudice the popular mind against railway enterprises. Jhe Moreles road is a narrow-gauge line, built by a Government subvention, and is entirely the work of Mexican engineers. Only 60 persons in all were saved alive, and of these 40 were more or less injured. For a moment after the plunge of the cars from the bridge, all was darkness. Suddenly one hundred barrels of brandy, loaded on two of the vans, caught fire, and the burning fluid covered the mass of passenerera struggling in the ruins. Only a few, not disabled or hopelessly wedged in the timbers, escaped. Dead and living were wrapped in a sheet of Same, and slowly burned before the eyes of the survivors, who were unable to save them." A later despatch to the same journal says :—" The reports have b:en meagre regarding the Moreles accident, &9 the telegraph was destroyed by the managers for the purpose of suppressing the details. The official announcement of the dead was, 192 soldiers and 13 officers ; wounded, 23 ; later reports are expected to somewhat inoreaso this number. By order of the War Secretary, the third battalion o£ soldiers took tram from Cnantla to come to the city of Mexico. The road had been inaugurated before by President Gonzalez, and th-> third battalion was one of the regiments which had taken part in the inauguration. The train passed Malpois and two miles beyond, where the bridge was washed away, the train at full speed plunged into the chasm. The enginedriver and fireman were killed instantly. A large cargo of whisky and alcohol on board immediately caught fire, and the car containing the thirteen ofEcera fell beneath the load of blazing spirits and was burnt with its contents. The car containing the soldiers was partly burned A heavy flood wa3 rushing through the chasm and many were drowned, others being burned beyond recognition. The night wa3 dark and misty and no help could be obtained. It appears that the engine*driver remonstrated against proceeding, the night being so dark and Etormy, but the officer being fearful of the soldiers escaping, compelled him at the mouth of the pistol to go on."