STRANGE TRAGEDY

Grey River Argus, 7 January 1946, Page 4

STRANGE TRAGEDY

STONE DROPPED ON LOCO FIREMAN. (Rec. 6.30). SYDNEY, January 6. A stone weighing 28 pounds, which was dropped from an overhead bridge by a man (whose mental state excused him from giving evidence) killed the fireman on the Sydney-Mel-bourne express on December 21. The police stated this at the inquest on « the fireman at Goulbourn yesterday. At the time of the tragedy it was reported that a truck had crashed into the stonework of the bridge, and that the vibrations of the speeding express had dislodged weakened masonry, part of which struck the fireman. This was stated in a cable at the time. It appears, however, that a truck crashed into the bridge parapet before the train came along, and that one man in the lorry was injured. The son of this man, whom the police accuse of throwing the stone, did so, apparently, to stop the train, so as to obtain aid for his injured father. The Coroner recorded a finding of accidental death.