MINER SWEPT AWAY AND KILLED

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 115, 11 November 1929, Page 10

MINER SWEPT AWAY AND KILLED

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) ' THAMES, This Day. A cloudburst on Saturday afternoon on the hills at the back of the Whakamoehau Stream, a tributary to the Hikutaia Stream, iu the Thames Valley, overwhelmed two workers' huts at the Ohinemuri gold and silver mines, causing the death of Percival Ernest Brunton, aged "0, a married miner. His mangled body was found on Sunday morning, three miles down the stream. Brunton came off shift at " 1 p.m., his mate having to work till 4. He went to lie down in his hut, which also accommodated eight other workers. Shortly before 2 o'clock tho rain increased in intensit}', causing a huge slip in tho gully a'bove the -huts to come down, bringing with it boulders, trees, and hundreds of tons of debris. It was diverted when within 200yds of the main camp, but swept on, overwhelming one hut, which disappeared. It then hit the larger one, which contained Brunton. The hut was totally wrecked, and the man was thrown Into the stream. A fellow-worker saw him disappear into the furious water, mud, and debris, but could do nothing to help him.

The Hood destroyed tents and gardens. Mrs. Spencer and. her daughter, who were in another hut not far from Bruiiton's, managed to escape when the water was three feet deep in the house, but a man had tr rush into the place to save the child. The stream rose rapidly, the debris being carried down about four miles, tearing up the roadway that ran alongside the Stream. A Maori family living lower down just managed to escape to higher ground. The cloudburst also ran down the other side of the hill into the Koniata Valley, where several houses were flooded, but there was no loss of lite. Had the cloudburst occurred at night, mau- lives would* have been lost The mine battery started work last week,_ employing about 100 men, the majority of whom live in the camp. The scene on Sunday morning beggared description. Hugo losrs and boulders weighing many ti/s, Utter the flat where the houses stood.

An inquest will be held to-day at Paeroa.