NINE HUNDRED TRAPPED IN NEW YORK TUBE FIRE

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6884, 13 April 1929, Page 5

NINE HUNDRED TRAPPED IN NEW YORK TUBE FIRE

Many People Injured Niue hundred New York men and women going homy from work on the night of February 20 were caught in a stopped and burning train in tho tube under the Hudson River, and narrowly escaped wholesale extermination. As it was, 50 were injured, seven seriously, in the mad scramble in the dark to escape. Some 200 others were overcome by the stiflling fumes from the burning railway, track and the Insulating rubber. Several hundreds more had their clothes torn or lost hats, coats or valuables. Tho accident occurred a few minutes after the crowded train had left Christopher Street station, on the New York side, and had travelled about 1000 ft. to the point where the tube dived beneath the waters of the Hudson. Eye-witnesses declare that there was a small fire on the track ahead, caused by a spark from, a preceding train igniting oil on the tracks. Instead of stopping, tho motorman of the train attempted to dash through. But when the third coach was over the fire there was a blinding flash from a short circuit of the electric current. The train came jarring to a sudden halt, and all the lights went out.

Panic Among Passengers. At first there was no panic. But as the flames began licking the windows women screamed and a few fainted. The steadier heads tried to calm the fears. The smoko grew denser each moment, and tlje heat from, the flames caused men and women to shed their overclothing and break windows in an attempt to got fresh air. After considerable delay the passengers in the third coach were herded in the dark toward the front of tho train. There was, however, no escape in. that direction, and an order was given by the conductor and guards to proceed to the rear. This meant passing through the burning coach, and the frightened screams of women who had to face the ordeal preeipated a panic. Women w T ero knocked down and trampled upon. Many were overcome by the smoke and dropped unconscious to the floor. Only one exit was possible—the rea.r door on the seventh and last coach. The journey through the pitch-dark smoke-filled train, with men and women fighting for passage through the narrow aisles, gasping for breath, is described by many as a long and horrible nightmare. Fifty persons were carried out unconscious by the firemen and police, who descended into the tunnel through an emergency manhole in the street. Many others were rescued from the tracks- on which they had dropped after escaping from the train. Explosion and no Lights.

Most of the passengers in the Tear coaches wore able to walk back to the station unaided. All suffered from the effects of the choking smoke, which made their eyes smart painfully and blackened their faces. It was 8.30 p.m. two hours after tho accident, before all the passengers were brought safely above-ground, and several hours later beforo the service cn the line could be resumed. A graphic story told by one passenger is as follows: — “Soon after leaving Christopher Street Station there was an explosion so great the whole train trended and rocked. At the same time the lights went out and we were left in utter darkness. In a minute, it seemed to me, the whole train was,filled with smoke, and breathing was difficult. Somewhere in the darkness a woman screamed ‘Oh, God! I’m dying.’ “Men leaped to their feet. Every vestige of civilisation was lost. They fought with their fists amid tho screaming women, knocked each other down, and tramped on each other. Above it all, like a frightful obbligato, rose the screams of those women. Fifteen dreadful minutes passed, before the doors were opened. Then, in that dark, smoke-filled tunnel, wc were for about three-quarters of an hour more. It was like being buried alive. In connection with the New Yotk accident, it is stated that the precautions taken by the London. Underground authorities render, similar outbreaks impossible on their lines. No serious alarm of fire had ever occurred on these railways. There is Teally nothing to burn. All new rolling-stock is now built of steel. Even m the. few remaining wooden cars the wood is o a particularly hard variety, and is specially treated with a non-inflam-mable solution which renders it fireTesistine. The sleepers in the tunnels are ' also non-inflammable throughout.