LITTLE BOY KILLED

Grey River Argus, 2 December 1943, Page 3

LITTLE BOY KILLED

BY FALL OF EARTH AFTER STEPPING INTO SHAFT P.A. AUCKLAND, Dec. 1. A small boy met his death at Taupiri this afternoon under tragic circumstances, when he fell down the narrow shaft of a well which his f.athei’ was boring. He was Earle James Wright, aged two, the only child of Mr E. Wright, of Taupiri. The boy was standing watching his father at work on the well which he. was boring near the house. The shaft was about 18 inches wide and 10 or 12 feet deep. When Wright removed the bore, .and was laying it oh the ground, the boy stepped into the hole. Wright pushed a long pipe down the shaft, and the boy grasped it, but he was unable to hold on while it was being lifted. After several unsuccessful attempts with the pipe, Wright started digging to widen the top of the shaft. However, the earth at the top caved in, and fell on top of the child. The body was extricated later, with the help of other residents, and, after medical examination, it was considered that the boy died of suffocation.