BOY KILLED

Grey River Argus, 1 March 1945, Page 7

BOY KILLED

RAIL-CAR ACCIDENT AT RUATAPU. [Our Own Correspondent] HOKITIKA, February 28. A lad aged six and a-half years, lan Dietly, son of Mr. and Mrs. Newton Findlater Dietly, of Ruatapu, was killed instantly this morning when he was struck by the rail-car coming from Ross, at Ruatapu, which is about half-way between here and Ross. The young child had left home to go to school and it was necessary for him to cross the railway line. There was a strong wind blowing from the north-west which would make it difficult to hear the horn of the ear approaching. The line at the point of the accident is obscured with a heavy growth of blackberry hushes alongside. The driver, Thomas Caldwell, did not see the child until the car had passed the blackberries. The driver sounded the horn and applied the brakes, but it was of no avail, the car striking the child and carrying the body some 20 yards before it could be stopped. Though Dr. D. A. Arnott Was summoned and an ambulance from Hokitika, the child’s death was obviously instantaneous.