SUBWAY SMASH

Grey River Argus, 27 August 1928, Page 5

SUBWAY SMASH

OVER 120 VICTIMS. IN HEART OF NEW YORK. A Terrible Scene. NEW YORK, August 24. It is unofficial’y reported. tha.t . between twenty-five and thirty have be n killed and fifty injured a sub way derailment to-night.in the. Square. _ (Received August 25 at 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK. Augu-t ,24,.. Details of the subway accident staitc that twenty persons were kHled during th.? evening rush hour to-night (Friday). The derailment was that of the rear car of a subway train at'the Times Square. The trucks split one of the switches, thus throwing the car sideways. The ear struck a stanchion, breaking i;t in two. The forward half of- the ear si ’ wed down the track, collapsing in a crumpled heap two hundred feet distant. The number of injured have not yet been estimated. Rescuers worked frantically to extricat, 1 the sufferers. Million People Held Up. WORST SMASH IN CITY’S HISTORY. GREAT DISLOCATION. NEW YORK, August 24. Three hours after the most serious accident in the history of the New York underground railways, the exact loss of life and the numbers of the injured arc still not established. It is believed that at least twenty Were killed and that a hundred were -criously injured. The accident, which occurred at th • peak of the lioiiiC’going rpsh hour, paralysed the entire subway system, and it left virtually one million people unable to get home, sav,..* by. long and devious ways. The Times. Square, which is the virtual heart of the. city, and probably its busiest spot at night, is to-night shut off on two sides by a cordon of police stretching around many of the City squares, and streets. This neighbourhood is crowded with fire fighting apparatus, and there is difficulty in removing injured and in clearing the tracks for the restoration of the service, which difficulty is greatly enhancL'd by the fact that the accident occurred forty feet underground, right in the Times Square area. The theatre district is in the neighbourhood of the Times Square, which is always one of ithe most crowd'd spots in’ the city, is to-night in a turmoil, the police having great difficulty in deflecting tho crowds which every evening converge upon this small area to seek th'ir places of amusement. How it Happened. SCENE LIKE BATTLEFIELD. (Received August 26 at 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, August 25. The cause of the subway accident was an open -switch, which shunted an express train on to local tracks. The switch was then thrown back, hurling four over-crowded ears against the st. el girders of tho station, which was immediately transformed into a shambles. All the power was shut oil and through the darkened underground there reverberated the shrieks of th.’ dying. Workmen with acetylene torches, and police and firemen rushed to the scene for rescue work. Every available hospital ambulance, was brought to the spot. The dead and the injured were, slowly brought to the surface, and the streets around the subway where the accident occurred resembled the tear lines of a battlefield. Such confusion still exists that details eoncerninr th. - cause of the wreck are still difficult.to obtain. Medical Examiner , Norris stated th:|t he had been told officially that ’.tliQ.se at present dead numbered twelve. Mr Frank Hedley, th..' President ot the Interborough . Rapid Transit Com parry, which is the owner.pf this hue, placed i'l® blame on a faulty switch. Ho stated that an inspector noticed it early in the evening, bat decided it was not. dangerous for a moment. They ran an empty train over it safely, and then ran over it with a loaded train successfully. The. second loaded train met th.- switch at a speed of twenty miles an hour. , The first seven carriages passed overr but ith‘J switch shifted as tho rear wheels of the eighth carriage, crossed. > - Th- nuniber'of‘ the injured has not yet been determined,, .