FIVE INJURED

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 111, 11 April 1936, Page 8

FIVE INJURED

CRASH THROUGH BRIDGE. 1 ACCIDENT NEAR OTAKI. Crashing through the side of a onecar bridge north of Otaki and falling into the stream below, a. sedan car was involved in a serious accident between midnight and one o’clock yesterday morning, causing injuries to five persons, including a child. Ine impact was such that the car impaled itself lengthwise on the hand-rail of the bridge, the wooden rail coming to rest against the back seat. The injured were:—

ALFRED LARK. 21 Jessie Street, Wellington, car cleaner and driver of the car, concussion, cut forehead and bruised hip. ROBERT LARK, aged 5, broken leg and cuts. * MRS KATE McSWEENEY, cuts on head and neck, and abrasions on back. ... . ' MISS RATA CASTLE, 66 Vivian Street, Wellington, factory worker, cut right knee, bruised left thigh, and shock. KENNETH DOUGLAS CROOKS, 45 Epuni Street, Wellington, labourer, injuries to right shoulder, cut back, and severe injuries to chest.

The car was proceeding north when it struck the bridge over the Waitohu Stream, a mile north of Otaki. The rail of the bridge pierced the car’s radiator, passed beneath the bonnet and over the engine, through the dashboard and through the front seat, coming to rest against the back seat. Toppling into the stream the vehicle came to rest on its side, in a pool and partly on a gravel bank. One of the men passengers was pinned by his head under the car; but remained conscious and his cries attracted the attention of a passing motorist. When sufficient assistance was forthcoming the injured persons were "removed and given first-aid treatment at Otaki. They were afterward conveyed to Wellington Hospital in Free Ambulance cars.