CROSSING TRAGEDY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 212, 7 August 1945, Page 5

CROSSING TRAGEDY

WORST RAIL-CAR ACCIDENT. NAPIER, Aug. 6. Uno of the five men killed when a rail-ear struck a lorry at the Vest-.' shore level crossing this morning was" Thomas Leonard Rowe, aged about 40. He came out of camp only recently and after a period of market gardening had been in his present job with the Public Works Department about a week. He was a single man. Tho deceased Lambert has been identified as Frederick Alexander Lambert, of Westshore. Some members of the party were electricians in the depart-' 4 merit’s employ. The interior of the rail-car presented a disorderly scene, baggage being thrown about in profusion. The passengers suffered a terrifying ordeal, women and children shrieking as the car left the track and made as if to lurch over on its side and topple over the embankment. The railway track was cleared and there was a normal passage for trains by noon. The rail-car will probably go to Wellington for final repairs. The tragedy is regarded as one of the worst in tho history of the Do- ' minion rail-car service. Limbs were severed in an instant and in the case ‘ of the two men pinned under the railcar and debris the bodies were shock- . iugly 7 mutilated. Two fire engines were despatched from Napier in response to a call. The rail-car was burning fiercely at the crossing and bucket pumps were used throughout the whole proceedings, particularly in extracting tho bodies. Uno driver was severely burned. The fire is thought to liave been caused by petrol from the burst tank being . ignited by the hot engine. of. the railcar. Heaped-up shingle, it is stated, gathered alongside the rail-car as it . swept the wreckage forward, acting as a brake and preventing tho rail-car from lunging off the embankment. Had this occurred more serious loss of life may have eventuated as the rail-car. was packed with passengers. The Bay-view crossing is a notoriously bad one, with poor visibility, tho line intersecting the main highway at an obtuse angle. When the collision occurred, the truck was carried across the road, over the cattle stops and for some SO yards down the line before the rail-car stopped. Pieces of: tho truck were torn off en route, and the wheels, bonnet, various pieces of equipment and the bodies of three of tho men littered the track. As the truck disintegrated, heavy pieces or equipment were thrown back, shattering the windows and damaging tho sides of the rail-car. Tho electric signalling equipment in the vicinity of tlie crossing was severely damaged and the entire signals system or the; sector was put out of action. The wreckage of the truck being thrust along the permanent way switched the points on the loop lino a short distance over tho crossing and caused the rail-car to veer abruptly and turn on to the branch line. Lurching, bumping and wobbling -, perilously, it carried on for about a,. chain and a half before the front Ixmev became derailed and sank into the gravel. Those who witnessed ..the accident expressed astonishment that when the rail-car left the main line it did not overturn. As it was >~l t lurched alarmingly and threw the passengers about. VICTIMS BEYOND AID.

When the accident occurred Dr T. Hirgins, of Napier, was waiting for Ins wile near the railway crossing, and lie was on the scene in a matter of seconds. Further medical aid was summoned from _ Napier, but all the victims wore dead within «• few minutes. , “I hoard the rail-car hootor and saw the crossing signals working, hut the truckstill came on.” Dr Higgins said. At tho last moment tho rail-car driver appeared to applv the brakes, but it was too late to chock its speed appreciably. At tho moment of the collision the truck seemed to leap into the air before it was forced down bv tho terrific weight of tho rail-car. which bore it across the road and down the line. I «aw a nvm thrown from the back of'tho truck and he landed just off the road on the Bayvicw side of tho crossing. Ins sides of the truck hit the crossing guards with a splintering crash and then hit a small signal box. The rail-car swung from the main line, and for a moment it—seemed that it would topple down the , small embankment, but it remained upright with the front wheels oil tho rails. I rushed to where the twisted wreckage of the truck lay in front of the railcar,- : but it was too late to do anything for the victims.” . . ■ Their alarming experiences when tne rail-ear and truck collided were spoken of by several passengers. “I saw the truck approaching and realised that a collision could not be avoided,” said one passenger. “There was a terrific impact. -the rail-car jolted, lurched and continued on its wav. We were all filing forward by the terrific jolt and luggage was flung from tho racks. It seemed that the radcar was never going to stop, though the driver, no doubt, was doing all in his power to pull up.”