PLUNGE OVER BANK

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 226, 24 August 1932, Page 2

PLUNGE OVER BANK

CAR BURSTS INTO FLAMES

WHANGAREI, Aug. 24. Two VhaTigarei residents, Mr Charles Schon. aged 33, and Mr .Stanley Thomson, aged fit, had a narrow je.vcape irom serious injury when the car in which they were travelling crashed over a bank and burst into 1 flames. The accident occurred about ! two miles north or Towai. Interviewed at the residence of Mr Schon, where both men are confined to bed, Mr Thomson said they left U liangarei about 10.3 u last night. .Mr Schon driving his car, a big sedan. At a corner the car lert the road and plunged over a steep bank covered with scrub. Tiro car ploughed its way through this. "The ground was very rough, and it is a miracle the ear did not turn over," continued Mr i Thomson. After travelling about 200 yards in this fashion, during ; which the car passed through a wirefence, it came to rest. Mr Schon had been rendered unconscious through j being thrown against the steering ; wheel. Immediately the car stopped ' it burst into flames.

Although Mr Thomson was dazed, lie was able to drag his companion out of the car, but was unable to save any of their personal belongings, which were in a bag. There was no help available, as the spot is a lonely one, and the car was destroyed. After resting for about an hour the two men set out for Towai. To gain the road they had to crawl up the bank, which was too steep for them to walk up. After a strenuous journey they readied the Towai Hotel in the early hours of the morning in an exhausted condition.