WRECK VIEWED BY NIGHT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18445, 7 July 1923, Page 13

WRECK VIEWED BY NIGHT.

mm- , -, i . . 1 , [/' CARRIAGE AN EMPTl r SHELL. SCENE m' THE CUTTING. f SLIP NOT SEAL OBSTACLE. ~:'• .FATAL TON-WEIGHT BOULDER $o'/. [BV .: TELEGRAPH.—speciaI v reporter.] : : ';/ ' ' 'ONGARUE.' Friday. l" "■'- The scene of the disaster by night ,was )' "' *rsn*ric" in tho extreme, .and not 1 a < little f'.. .;'j'Rn'.Vastic. Directly site* the airrj^val;. ; of {-: ..'•','. ; (fir- breakdown , train ! srom Auckland •'. •■'! . .Messrs. , Mncklsy.;."-i.!,. ; -i- -Catoeroa,'.'' 'equipped [;"••. v t'.h -. lantern v - wsiV;d south along the /v 1-u for tjiOK'. c, qiu.'f.n* ova mile to viewt tut wreck . an.l mak'j' Arrangements for |: co-operating in" th'.. work of - cJetirJ.ng' the ;; ■'• track. I* It was pitch dark at 10 o'clock when the .party, set out from Ongarcie. ; , Just inside the' station yard were seen four ■ of the passenger coaches which had com- > prised part of the wrecked express. One, p second-class . carriage, presented ' a terribly dilapidated , condition. - Though standing on its wheels, with roof, intact, 'one end and one side' had completely disappeared, while not a vestige-of a seat remained inside. Everything within the ;.:".■'■■ compartment had been swept clean out of ft and nothing but splintered fragments , lay on-the floor./ i ' The other carriages ■ had borne the, brunt of the disaster much better, evidently having been- in tho rear of \ the train, but scarcely a , whole pane of li glass renv.iined in any jof them..: :;, The Track From Ongarte. The railway track going south from the Ongarue station. yards is perfectly flat for the first half of the distance. The tond runs parallel with it' on the right- . hand side, and the--Ongarue-River on tho left. A low range of hills at the back of the roadway gradually converges on to the track until at its junction with it there is a deep cutting situated on a fairly long curve. '- It was just after entering this cutting that the train 'struck a boulder which was lying on the lino embedded in a slip. At this spot the hill on the right hand side is very steep,' the soil containing a pood deal at pumice and being . freely intermixed with large boulder?. On the left is d bank some 10ft. high,, but for the presence of which the train might ■:.-*■ have fallen into the river. - . : -," No Signs /of.-large Slip. , Viewed to-night, tho track disclosed no pigns of a largo slip. : ; Such material as °y had been removed' from the '.-track con- ■- sisting mostly of slushy mud. ;; Experts /agree that the express : would have run s through this . material without ; accident ,•, : had ■'. it not been for .tbi hidden boulder. When the engine struck this .; obstruction the driver is said'to have stated that it went up in .■'; the air, plainly:-l|indicating •' that the bonldei- was on ; the line. ; Keeping the track for some two carriage lengths arid pushing the boulder. with it, the ■"; engine , finally...", toppled ;"•. over ; against the left hand bank, taking the> tender and tho mail coach behind •with it. .!. At the same ; time tho rocky obstruction-, was ;H thrust aside. It measured 4ft. in diameter and weighed over a ton. v •',.." Carriages for Firewood. • i;--..-.-.- -The.. first sign of the ' party's - approach to the- wreck, to-night was thV, weird reflection of; a fire justvaround ii;, corner of the lull ahead: Just here was pissed the remains of two second-class coaches lying on the left back, flattened oiiis.of recogV nition. On turning the bend; it was seen .."-■ that . splintered 'lengths? of. timber :from■ the wrecked' coaches had been \ piled up and lighted to 'Spread' illumination ever the : scene. -A gang' of • workmen bad cleared v-tho'hne of all save a second-class carriage, the' mail . coach, ; and the engine and tender. Both the latter were jacked up on each side. Half the' passenger coach consisted of the flooring only, and from the front portion half the roof had gone, chopped clean by axes so that its occupants, many of them dead,' might be removed, j ■-'...;-'?-' In th& bizarre light from tha fire on tho , Ibillside and .-: with '*. the ceaseless voice of ' the roaring river just below...the... opposite bank, this-aftermath'-".of one of the .worst '.tragedies in New Zealand railway history was one not to be viewed ; without a har- ■-.■-.■ rowing of feelings. ■-•'••.■ '.'.'}■ "

i ,V- ' - Dreadful Sight."_.-,!-;,! ; . "Irlom the top of the buttress— buttrsss of! no avail in preventing death and injtey, but of real ; service in preventing a "'Worse tragedy still—the dreadful interior ' :oi '- the second-class compartment could \be viewed. 'In the :right-hand ; front- corner ' four men had been playing-cards when the •-'impact ( came. They >.escaped .injury. Into ; the .., ;• opposite , corner, however, .. death stalked in hideous form. The carriage behind ; this i one : had telescoped into it for; its entire length, thrusting crashing those on the left-hand side particularly, into a maimed and dying heap. To add' to the horror the third coach of the BQcdtid-class telescoped the r first two, travelling - half '•■ way through them . with ' equally terrible and \ tragic consequences. "All the ' dead and injured had been re- !: xnovedif mostly to Taumarunui, ■'■ long before the breakdown party had arrived, so that the crippled engine and the remnants of the train were ail i thai, remained in the cutting. Presently ' the , gang of men who had come ;• from ; ■Te'iKuiti earlier in the day resumed >; work, - after their cup of billy tea, in the light of -the bonfire and'with acetylene lamps. :':, '~:Clearing the } Line. V?;! f *» the aid of another engine and its headlight-, hauling operations were recommenced at a late hour. It looked as though the work of clearing, the track in the cutting might be accomplished some time to-morrow, and in the meantime, ; there is a short gap in the line ahead of where the engine J lies. Repairs to the I Onganie side of the track had been al-| ready .carried out, and the gap referred i to should i not take long to remake once i the line itself has been cleared. Mean-i time ■ the, Main Trunk service cannot be resumed. ■ \ _ '/!■ > !'!;! ' Residents of Ongarue learned of. the disaster early in the morning,. and many of. them were on the scene of , the accident soon after it happened. Relief measures were immediately undertaken, and a large number of people .; were employed in rescuing the wounded and in extricating the killed. Most of those who died had terrible head injuries. .Some idea of the force of .the impact may be gauged from the fact that one man was thrown between the ' roof and ceiling of I tyro !'\ telescoped carriages. Except for a scratch on the face he escaped injury. A'number of the injured were conveyed to : Ongarue and were ! given medical and surgical at'!tention. An operation was performed ;on one unfortunate sufferer in thei cottage of out?> of 'the: surfacemen, ■ whose ; wife ren-dei-cd yeoman service in assisting the doctors* Other residents offered hospitality to the traveller!)..