FIRST CARRIAGE TORN TO MATCHWOOD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22571, 26 February 1948, Page 6

FIRST CARRIAGE TORN TO MATCHWOOD

The train consisted of an engine, seven carriages, a guard's van and a Z waggon. It left Blenheim on time and was still mi time when it departed from Seddon. 21 miles south of Blenheim. Disa=ter overtook it as it steamed through a cutting another two and a ha'f miles further south. The engine left the rails and dragged with it the fallowing carriage, both of these finishing at a crazy angle against the bank. Fortunately, as far as is known, few if any passengers, were- in the first carriage which was reduced to matchwood. The second and third carriages were sorerdeaeled across the track and i 1 w'a’fe in these carriages where most of the c"sualties occurred.

Both were badly twisted and splintered and were left lying half on their sides with many of the uninjured given a difficult task in finding their way out. The fifth carriage was also heavily dam-wed. but the sixth -nd seventh together with the van and the Z wagon es-wed lightly. The guard of the train. Mr. Parmonte-. found when he rushed from his van that the telephone lines were bemg carried away. Realising the seriousness of the accident. he sent the assistant guard, Mr. L. Goodson, to the nearest telephone about a mile away with instructions to call all the available medical and other assistance from Blenheim.

In the meantime, he went with a first-aid kit to give what assistance he could and in this work he had valuable help from many passengers who had escaped uninjured or who were suffering only minor disabilities.

“1 could see that some of the passengers could not be attended to until further assistance came.” he said. "It was distressing to realise that nothing could be done for them at the time To us it seemed ages before assistance arrived but in actual fact the medical and other helpers arrived amazingly quickly.” Among the first on the scene were nearby settlers, but they were seriously handicapped in the rescue work through the lack of equipment. They were quickly reinforced by railway gangs sent from the nearest stations, and soon it was possible to get the dead n n d injured out of the twisted wreckage. In the meantime, doctors, nurses and ambulances which were hurriedly dispatched from Blenheim arrived on the scene and the first of the injured arrived at the Wairau Hospital. Blenheim about 1 o’clock. Thereafter, they arrived tn a steady stream and were attended to by the hospital staff which already had been alerted 'or *he emergency. There were many gruesome scenes at the cutting. Amorg them was the top portion of a skull which was lying amid the wreckage of the third carriage One woman, the last to be extricateo. was pinned deep down under the centre of the second carriage and it was only after tremendous work on the part of a relief garg, working with all available tools, that her body was freed.