ON SYDNEY-BRISBANE LINE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 11 June 1926, Page 5

ON SYDNEY-BRISBANE LINE

COLLAPSE OF A VIADUCT FIVE PEOPLE KILLED (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) (Australian & N.Z. Cable Association.) SYDNEY, .Tune 10. Owi;ig to the collapse of a wooden viaduct between Togar and Aberdeen, about 180 miles north of Sydney, the Brisbane express, which left Sydney yesterday afternoon, was derailed shortly before midnight. Five were killed and over 30 injured, some critically.

Medical aid was sent from Scone and Muswellbrook. The injured who were able tri be moved were sent to the hospital at, those places. Details at present are meagre. DIFFICULT RESCUE WORK APPALLING SCENES SYDNEY, This Day. The dead through the railway accident are: Miss B. Dal/.iell, of Too'woomba, Queensland; Mrs Bennett, of Mosman, Sydney; Fyhran Mmisonr, an Assyrian; a man named White, of Queensland ; and an unidentified man. The critically injured are: Ward .Morgan, actor, who had both legs brok. en; and Miss Alice Nichols, of Manly.

The Queensland train consisted of two engines and a van and seven carriages. There were 143 passengers aboard. An official statement showed that the leading engine and four carriages went off the line and the assisting engine toppled on its side. The accident was caused by three spans of the modern viaduct collapsing when the train was passing over if. The viaduct crosses a ravine twenty-five feet deep. The first engine crossed safely but the viaduct collapsed under the second engine and the first carriage. The engine crashed into the ravine, followed by the next two carriages.

It was fortunate that the first engine and the third carriage kept the track, thus preventing further wreckage and additional casualties. The viaduct is within a short distance of the Hunter river.

Owing to the darkness the work of rescuing the injured proved very difficult. Searching of the debris had to be suspended for some time after one o'clock this morning. Rescue parties built camp fires and awaited dawn. Passengers travelling in the secondclass carriage which was next to the two engines appeared to have suffered most'. The carriage was split in two, one part still standing, and other overturned.

Most of the dead were found Tn this carriage. The fourth carriage was tilted down through the viaduct. Appalling scenes were witnessed after the disaster. Flares, motorcar headlights and other methods of illumination were used to throw light on the wreckage.

Some people were so seriously injured that they could not be moved from the spot. Those less seriously hurt, after treatment at the hospital, were accommodated in private, houses. The permanent way was torn and twisted.

The driver and fireman of the second engine had remarkable' escapes. Both were buried beneath coal when the engine overturned. The fireman, suffered a brokn jaw and the driver minor injuries and shock.

DEATH ROLL INCREASED SYDNEY,. This Day Among the passengers in the wrecked train were J. C. Williams'on's "Katja Company, of between thirty and forty members.' Ward Morgan was the only one seriously injured. Several others, including Miss Marie Burke, . leading lady, were slightly injured or are suffering from shock.' Many pasesngers were asleep at the lime of the collision. In consequence of the darkness and the complete nature of the wreck it was hours after the smash before victims were recovered from the wreckage. The latest official message at 4 o-clock this morning gives the number of killed at seven, but is expected the casualty roll will be increased when all are extricated. Unofficial messages state that eight were killed. CONTRADICTORY REPORTS SYDNEY, This Day. The reports of the railway accident are most contradictory. The latest give lour killed. It is now stated that Mrs Bennett was not killed, but only slightly injured.