Two Killed When Truck Plunges Into A Stream

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 November 1949, Page 3

Two Killed When Truck Plunges Into A Stream

NEW PLYMOUTH, November 20. —A man and a woman, two of five occupants of the cab of a motor-truck returning to Taumarunui from National Park soon after 3 a.m. today, were killed when the vehicle struck the right-hand railing of the bridge and plunged 15 feet into the stream near Baurimu. They were:—

Myra Bishop, aged 42, a widow, of High street, Taumarunui, and the mother of eight children. James Braithwaite, a truck driver, of Taumarunui, aged 40, married, with four children.

The driver, Sharland Jackson, of Taumarunui, and a passenger, Mrs Caroline McMinn, of Taumarunui, received only slight cuts and abrasions and were able to return to their homes, but Mrs Rita Woodmass, of Taumarunui, was taken to the Taumarunui Hospital suffering from shock and bruises. Her condition this evening was reported to be satisfactory. When Jackson recovered ' from a blow on the head, he heard Mrs McMinn calling, and quickly moved her and Mrs Woodmass to safety. Mrs Bishop was found unconscious, but he could not see Braithwaite in the darkness. He hurried to Raurimu for assistance, but rescuers were unable to extricate immediately Mrs Bishop, who was lying huddled on top of Braithwaite. Both were dead.

Youth Shot In Stomach Gustav Frederick Frank, aged 16, is ' in hospital in a grave condition, suffering from a bullet wound in the stomach as a. result of a shooting accident near Gisborne just after midday yesterday. Frank and two companions, Kevin Griffiths, aged 18, and Clive Kenneth Whitehead, went to Longbush, eight miles from Gisborne at 6 p.m. on Friday to camp there for the week-end. About midday the youths wdht opossum shooting. According to statements to the police, Griffiths was carrying a .22 calibre rifle, and when one of the three called out he had seen an opossum up a tree Griffiths turned, and the rifle discharged simultaneously. Frank received the bullet in the stomach. The injured youth was rushed to hospital, where his condition is reported to be very serious. , —(P.A.) Man Drowned

! While swimming from a barge in ' the Thames river on Saturday evening, a Maori deckhand got into difficulties and was drowned. He was John Malcolm Smyth. Smyth was a member of the crew of the barge Naumai which had been getting sand from the Puriri bank in the river. After they had secured a load, Smyth, with some other members of the crew, went in for a swim. Smyth who was said to be a poor swimmer, got into difficulties in a tidal current and disappeared. T. Kingi, a member of the crew, tried to rescue him, but failed. ’ Smyth’s body has not yet been found. ! —(P.A.)

Small Boy Drowned A Maori child, Tommy Wharerahi, aged two, a son of Mr and Mrs H. Wharerahi, was drowned in Lake Rotorua yesterday morning. The child was with some other children, who were swimming in the lake near Kotu. He got into difficulties and one of the children pulled him out and applied artificial respiration without success. —(P.A.)