DOWN PRECIPICE

Evening Star, Issue 23048, 29 August 1938, Page 8

DOWN PRECIPICE

INTO DULLER RIVER ASTONISHING ESCAPE FROM GAR IK 30 FEET OF WATER [Pee United Press Association.] NELSON, August 29. One of the most miraculous escapes possible to imagine occurred in Buller Gorge yesterday afternoon, when a party oT' Nelsouians who had attended a football match at Westport were returning. Their car was observed_ by a following car containing the ;\e!son team to leave the road and disappear over a 130 ft precipice. By the time the spot was reached by the following car nothing was to be seen except the Buller Hirer flowing at the foot of the precipice. The footballers stood spellbound; the only conclusion possible being that the car and the occupants had disappeared under the water. After some breathless seconds a head and then the body of an occupant of the car appeared on the surface, followed shortly after by the other three occupants. All managed to reach a ledge of rock. The steepness of the precipice prevented the footballers from rendering any immediate assitance. A rope was secured from the Newton Flat Hotel, two miles away, and the rescue effected, the four persons being pulled singly up the slope 50ft to 60ft to a higher ledge before they were helped back to the road. The occupants of the car were:—A. J. Drummond, deputy superintendent of the Nelson Fire Brigade, the driver and owner: Mrs Drummond, his wife; Claude Wilkens, and T. Donaldson. The latter could not swim, but was assisted to safety by Wilkens. Mrs Drummond is a good swimmer. Drummond states that he does not know how he reached the ledge, as he was rendered unconscious whenthe car was hurtling down the precipice. Apart from minor cuts and bruises none suffered serious injury. The car, a. small sedan, turned over a number of times down the precipice, and fell into the Buller, which is 30ft deep at this spot. The car was not recovered.