TRAIN WRECKED

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 123, 22 April 1927, Page 7

TRAIN WRECKED

WAGONS SET ON FIRE.

HUNDREDS BELIEVED DEAD,

WORK OF MEXICAN BANDITS.

(By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) MEXICO CITY, April 20. Bandits numbering 500 attacked a train near Guadalajara (capital of the Mexican State of Jalisco), killing approximately 185 passengers. They first derailed the train, quickly wiping out 15 Federal soldiers who weer escorting it. They then went through the train, robbing the pasesngers, after which they locked the wagon doors and set fire to the train.

Women and children, shrieking vainly, tried to escape through the windows, but they were mowed down by the bandits’ rifle fire. The victims were mostly business men with families. A few escaped to wire the news to Mexico City. They described the scenes as atrocious. A large force of troops has been dispatched from Mexico City in an attempt to capture the bandits. It is estimated that the train carried 600 passengers, and it is believed that later reports will show that only a few escaped alive. A daughter of ex-President Obregon is among the identified dead.

The bandits are believed to be rebels who have bene waging guerrilla warfare against the Government troops in this section for many months. It is understood that before firing the train the bandits covered the wagons with oil.

Most of the passengers were returning home from Holy Week, which was spent at Guadalajara. Nurses and doctors have been sent from Irapuato to the scene of the tragedy. A goods car with 159 bodies has been dispatched to Mexico City. The Minister of War, General Amaro, is expected shortly to arrive on the scene of the outrage, with a cavalry force, to start in pursuit of the rebels. A circular distributed here during Holy Week, purporting to be a warning from the rebel headquarters against railway travel by the public after Easter, stated that it was determined to wreck all trains to prevent the Government using the lines for the transport of troops. The incident is expected to cause a Government crisis. President Calles, immediately upon receiving the reports, convened the editors of all the local papers and discussed with them the advisability of suppressing news of the outrage. The President has issued a statement that the attack was perpetrated by rebels under the' leadership of two Roman Catholic priests, under direct orders from the Roman Catholic Episcopate in Mexico City. He added that the military escort fought for three hours with the bandits, who were led also by a member ,of the League for the Defence of Religious Liberty. It is believed that the outrage will necessitate a declaration of martial law and a campaign on a large scale against the revolution, which the Government has up to now been attempting to minimise.—A. and - N.Z. cable.

REMOVING THE BODIES

Reoeived April 22, 9.15 a.m. MEXICO CITY, April 21

Fifty-one bodies and thirty-two injured were removel to-day from the charred coaches of the train derailed and burned at Jalisco by bandits who are charcterised in the Presidential office statement as “Catholic rebels.’’ The military escort of 50 fought until all were dead or wounded. The total dead is unofficially estimated at 100. — A. and N.Z. cable.