TERRIBLE TASK

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 16 September 1926, Page 5

TERRIBLE TASK

RESCUING THE INJURED.

BLANDFORD RAILWAY SMASH

REVISED CASUALTY LIST.

BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. SYDNEY, Sept. 15. The town '. of Scone - has been the scene of feverish activity during the past two days-, 25 coffins for the victims’of the• Blaondford railway disaster being manufactured, there for the -bodies lying' at the Murrurundi Itospi fcal. ' ‘ ' ;; ' ' '- All day the town watched the glfoamytrek as -lorry after k)rrv departed- with tlieir .sinister load- for Murrurundi. Scone is paralysed, business being deadin the town, which is only just recovering from the horror of the Aberdeen disaster. All day there has been a. procession of people viewing the bodies at Alurrurundr hospital, most of them so tersibly disfigured that even their relatives were unable to identify them. The second-class carriage, which was crashed by the- charging trucks was a jumble of wreckage in which more than--30 passengers were imprisoned in a death trap which resisted' the efforts of the rescuers for more than two hours, during which time the screams of the injured went' on unceasingly. The* rescuers finally had to lever off the roof of the carriage before they were able to release the victims. Only, the doctor® and nurses _ who rushed to the scene are able to give a coherent account of the ghastly -plight of the people pinned under the debris, •the survivors being too shaken to collect any thoughts- about, the hours- of horror during which they were- imprisoned The doctors grasped: the limbs oif the injured as they protruded- from the wreckage: and injected -morphia, to ease the pain as the rescuers hacked’ their way to the victims. Every shrojee- of the axe in the tangled woodwork was answered’ by a. shriek from, someone who had been tortured by the concussion. One rescuer of giant Inn I'd wielding an axe with incredible vigour, suddently collapsed as lie opened the way to the terribly mangled body of a woman.

A revised official list of the killed: issued to-day is as follows: Mrs Ackland, A. E. Adams, Mrs Anderton. A. C. Bush, Aliss Janet Doyle, John Dunbar, Ada Fripp, John Gilte-s, Mrs Giles, A. Jefferson, Arthur Jurd, Sydney MnJlett. J. R. Mockbridge (of Dunedin, New Zealand). Given APGrath. Mrs A. McDonald. AV. McMillan. F. ATcKeown, Sydney Neller. Master Rich. Clarice Sampson. Peter Vagjniias Wilson and Airs AVilson, James Walker, Aliss Kathleen Malone, and 1 one unidentified woman., ’ • "

There were also 42 injured, ai number of whom, however, are only suffering slightly from shock.

SURVIVORS DAZED BY - DISASTER.

SYDNEY, Sept. 15. A passenger in the wrecked train states that' of seven travellers in one compartment four were . killed outright and another badly injured. He and his companion were pinned’in with the dead for an hour before they were released. The suddenness of the disaster, without the slightest previous warning, left all who escaped death or in jury' in a dazed condition, ,but when they realised wliat had happened and the extent of the calamity all who were left capable of action were quickly engaged in rescue work. Improvised beds were made for the wounded as they were extracted from the wreckage, seat cushions and travelling rugs being utilisedi for the purpose. The rescuer® kept up their heroic efforts for the relief of the sufferers amidst a scene of confusion and horror till assistance from the neighbouring towns arrived. When the trucks broke away from the siding, the guard of the goods train who was directing the shunting made frantic but'futile efforts to climb upon them., and they disappeared at a terrific speed down the incline. It was

known that the mail train was approaching, and those at the' siding waited in sickening fear till a deafening crash announced that their worst fears had been realised. Flying cinders set fire to the wool aboqrd the trucks, and 300 bales were destroyed. * The timely efforts to provide a fire, break between the burning wool and the wrecked carriages prevented the flames spreading to where scores of victims were still pinned amidst the splintered debris

Two’men on the runaway trucks were among the killed, their bodies being hurled many yards through the air when the trucks met the approaching train.

RESCUE WORK TAKES LONG TIME Though the accident occurred near midnight, it was not till after six o’clock in the morning that the last injured person was extricated. Several succumbed shortly after they were got out. One of the last cases was a man from whom the wreckage could not be removed. His legs were badly crushed, and in a-final effort to relieve him a doctor amputated one of his legs, but the man died from shock.. Another man was dragged out with an eye gouged out and otherwise cruelly injured. He told the rescuers that he did not want help, as he was not long for this world, adding, “For God’s sake go and the others.” One woman who was terribly injured lay pinned over her infant," which was" rescued unscathed after several hours’ imprisonment. j Among the killed was 'ill*. A. C. Adams, chief accountant to the Rural Industries Branch, who was sleeping in the same compartment as Judge' Mocatta. The latter escaped uninjured. From another compartment nine dead were taken. Howard Rich; who was killed, was a member of a family of five who were travelling on the train. His father, mother, and two brothers were all injured. /. i When the news of the disaster reached the adjoining townships, many people left their beds and rushed to the succour of the victims. Some of the soft goods stores sent car loads of blankets and fugs in which to wrap the wounded.

The rescue parties, as they cut their way through the wreckage, could see the agonised faces of those who were pinned . below, while their movements, which the shifting of the debris necessitated. resulted in increased pain to the sufferers, whose screams and moans were heart-rending. Doctors groped in the darkness amongst .the battered mass, guided only by the cries of the wounded. Rescuers describe the experiences as hellish.

It has been ascertained that the girl Seccombe, who was reported killed, reached home uninjured, and that Mr. J. D. Kennedy, another who was included' in the list of dead, was not on the train.