SEVEN OAKS SMASH

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 216, 26 August 1927, Page 5

SEVEN OAKS SMASH

SUBSIDENCE THEORY DISCOUNTED

ERIDGE INTENSIFIED DISASTER DERAILMENT UNEXPLAINED. (Received 26 ,12.15 p.m.) London, Aug. 25. Pending the official inquiry being opened, the Sevenoaks disaster remains unexplained. One theory is that a subsidence occurred following prolonged rain, but tins is discounted by the company’s experts. After an inspection it is ilncially stated that there are no signs of a subsidence and it is not thought that the rains contributed to the accident.

Sign- were discovered that for 600 yards before the actual crash one oi the wheels of the engine was running out of position. The sleepers and rails revealed that the flange had been riding on top of the rail for 20 yards on the London side of the bridge until the dummy points swung the engine off the line. Undoubtedly the presence of the bridge intensified the disaster. It is believed tho engine grazed the side, causing the coaches to swing and the second one swung hard against the side of the bridge while the third oscillated and hit the opposite side. The pnllman thereupon swung broadside on to the entrance to the arch.— (A. and N.Z.)

BLOOD TRANSFUSION SERVICE.

CLASS HAS NO DISTINCTION.

(Received 26, 12.10 p.m.) London, Aug. 25. A blood transfusion operation for the benefit of a broken-legged victim of the Seven Oaks railway disaster discloses the existence of the Red Cross Society blood transfusion service, which has available 450 people, graded into blood groups, willing to submit to transfusion to assist sufferers.

A blood donor promptly reached the hospital in response to a telephone call from the society, to which he returned in five hours reporting everything satisfactory. His blood had been drawn off in a bottle and transfused, and meanwhile the donor was fed and recuperated. The secretary explains that the whole system is impersonal and the names of donors are never given. The status of the donors includes professional men, labourers, independent ladies, and charwomen.—(Sydney “Sun” cable). DEATH BOLL NOW 13. (Received 26 10.5 a.m.) London, Aug. 25. Tho Sevenoaks train smash death roll is now 13.—(A. annd N.Z.) MOUNTAIN RAILWAY SMASH. 15 BELIEVED KILLED.

(Received 26, 12.25 p.m.) Paris, Aug. 25. It is believed that 15 were killed and 25 injured by the derailment of a train descending a mountain railway from Mcr de Glace, near Mount Blanc. BRAKES FAIL. (Received 26, 2,10 p.m.) London, Aug. 25. The ‘Daily Mail’ sa’ys there were many Dutch tourists aboard the Mer de Glace train. So far no British victims are mentioned. The bodies of children were found among the wreckage.

The failure of the brakes is responsible for the accident.—(A. and N.Z.)