TUNNEL TRAGEDY

Evening Star, Issue 22639, 4 May 1937, Page 8

TUNNEL TRAGEDY

ANOTHER AVALANCHE AT THE HOMER CHIEF ENGINEER AND OVERSEER KILLED THREE OTHER MEN INJURED [Feu United Press Association.] INVERCARGILL, May 4. The Lumsden police received word shortly before noon that an avalanche came down over the mouth of the Homer Tunnel on Milford Sound highway at 9.50 this morning, as the result of which the engineer-in-charge, Mr D. F. Hulse formerly engineer at Wairoa) and the overseer in charge of tunnel operations, Mr T. W. Smith, were' killed, and three were seriously injured—J. S. Lloyd, J. Milne, and L. S. Kelly. It was snowing heavily, and there were 13in of snow in the valley. No warning was possible. A doctor is proceeding to the scene of the tragedy, and also a party of police. . The bodies of the men killed have been recovered, and arrangements are being made to bring the injured to hospital at Invercargill. The scene of the tragedy is the same as on the previous occasion, when an avalanche killed one man and injured seven. TRANSPORT OF INJURED AMBULANCE AT IKE TUNNEL DOCTOR HURRIED TO SCENE The injured men had not been brought down the Eglington Valley by 2 p.m., when the ‘ Star ’ was in telephonic communication with the Te Anau Hotel. The weather at Te Anau was bad this afternoon and worse was threatened. At the Homer, the snow was lying 15in deep. The doctor had already passed through Te Anau on his way to the tunnel camp and the District Public Works engineer was expected to reach the tunnel late this afternoon to make an investigation. An ambulance is kept at the Homer, but whether it had left early this afternoon before the arrival of the doctor was not known. No details of the catastrophe were available at Te Anau, as the telephone to the tunnel was carrying a full volume of more important messages. I MR HULSE’S CAREER PREVIOUSLY AT LAUDER Mr Hulse was a married man with two children. He was 35years of age and had been in the Public Works Department for 19 years. _ Previous to coming to the Otago he was engaged on the East Coast Main Trunk railway, with headquarters at Wairoa. He was the engineer on the Lauder irrigation scheme before going to Milford Sound. Mr Smith, it was stated m Dunedin this afternoon, was a married man, with one child. [The avalanche that swept into the cut leading to the eastern portion of the Homer tunnel killed one man and injured seven on July 6 last year. Formed of snow and ice, the avalanche slid silently from the top of the saddle, crashed down the face, and blocked the mouth of the tunnel. The 20 men who were working in the tunnel and the same number outside it had no warning. A fierce gale was raging at the time (11.45 a.m.) and it was snowing heavily, making the work of bringing the injured to Invercargill difficult and hazardous.] j ..... I