CROSSING COLLISION

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 August 1935, Page 2

CROSSING COLLISION

COUPLE’S LUCKY ESCAPE. [FEB PBESS ASSOCIATION.] AUCKLAND, August 2. Two people had a aemarkable escape from serious injury when they were involved in a level crossing accident on the north line this morning. They were Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Howie, of East Vale farm, Kumeu. Though the van in which they were travelling was completely wrecked, Howie was able to stand up and look for his wife, who, when found _ some distance away was also not seriously hurt. , , , The accident happened at a level crossing near Taupake station, when the 6.30 a.m. mixed train from Maungaturoto was just pulling out of the station. The van was caught right on the . lines. The injured couple were placed on the train and brought to the hospital. Theii' condition is not serious. . ~ .. The amazing thing about it, said the guard of the train, was that as soon as the train had stopped, the man was on his feet looking for his wife. That was his chief concern. She was nowhere to be seen, and wreckage itself was carried on to the cattle stops. “I would not have given much for it. It was matchwood anyway. From the middle of it, Howie extricated his wife. Of course I. do not know how seriously she was injured, but the miracle o_ it was that she was not killed outright.” Howie was more seriously injured than it at first appeared. His escape was simply amazing, the van which was loaded with crates of eggs was carried only 12 feet by the engine before it was hurled with terrific force to the side of the line, where it crashed into a ditch near the cattle stops. The van was wrecked and thousands of eggs were strewn in a sticky mess. The train stopped in less than its own length.

PRINCE MDIVANI KILLED. [BY CABLE—-PBESS ASSN. —COPYBIGHT.] BARCELONA, August 2. Prince Alexis Mdivani, whom his American wife (Barbara Hutton) divorced'at Reno in March, has been killed. He met his death in a. motor car near Gerona. A woman friend was seriously injured. The Prince was taking her to Perpignan to catch a Pans train, when his car ran into a ditch and overturned. Prince Mdivani, who signed away his rights to his wife’s millions, stayed in Catalonia.