KILLED BY SHOCK

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1937, Page 10

KILLED BY SHOCK

LIGHTNING FLASH

STORM AT HOKITIKA

In.the violent electrical storm which broke over Hokitika on Tuesday afternoon, George Small, 'a porter at the Westland Hospital, was struck by lightning and killed, states a Hokitika correspondent. Lightning, thunder, and a deluge of rain from 3 o'clock until 6 made the storm the worst experienced in Hokitika in recent years. Blue lightning flames darted in all directions, and deafening thunderclaps, seemingly directly overhead, alarmed the whole population. A portion ■of a house in Revell Street was demolished by lightning.

Small was awaiting the arrival of the evening train at Seaview station, to receive mails, papers, and parcels. When the train stopped, the crew found Small lying on the platform, his body being burnt and blackened. The station building, a small shed, was not damaged. '

A poignant. note was given to the tragedy .by the fact that Small had just been.granted twelve months' leave of absence to visit his parents in Ireland. He was to have left, New Zealand within a week. He was a prominent member of the Masonic Lodge and a popular figure at the hospital.

' There were many cases of minor injury and shock. The electric lighting system and telephones were out of order. Lightning struck the wireless aerial at the home of Mr. S. Ferris, Revell Street, and destroyed a portion of the back of the house. Extensive damage was done to other electric fittings and wireless sets in the district.

Flying from Waiho to Hokitika, Mr. J. C. Mercer ran into a dense fog over Hari Hari, and was unable to get bearings. He eventually landed on an island in the Big Wanganui River. The fog lifted at 4 o'clock, and he arrived at Hokitika at 5.30.

The Hokitika River rose rapidly, and Captain Nalder, master of the motorship Hokitika, found it necessary to stand by his vessel throughout the night.