DISASTER IN A TUNNEL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18571, 1 December 1923, Page 12

DISASTER IN A TUNNEL.

... : , ___*.—* ~ TIE KAIWAKA ACCIDENT. •'- . ' ; v ; ■ THREE MEN ENTOMBED. - ONE GOT; OUT ALIVE. V.' WORST .FEARED FOR OTHERS V FEVERISH RESCUE WORK. ■:: r« BLW»*ra.-W OOBMSrOKMOT.] 1 NAPIER. Friday. .-■ Further details of the collapse of the tunnel at Kaiwaka on the *•*.<*»* railway, that it occurred at . 5.3U -p.m. yesterday. Three men were en■tombed and five others who { were work- ■ ing on the spot where the fall of earth occurred' had miraculous .scapes. The names of those who were buried in the tU MR Ia JOHN ROBERT HOHENSEE, - 39 vears, married. • MR T. "O'MAHONEY, 25 years, single. M < CHARLES DIMOND, 27 years, . . single. __- i Rescuers Cached Mr..Dimond at 10.30 p.m. and he was released at 9.30 a.m. today. He was conscious, but was suf- . ferine from severe injuries and was re.moved to the Napier Hospital. .It is not expected that the other two entombed men can be reached inside, of . two days, therefore hope of rescuing them . alive has been given up. It is feaied . that as the gangs remove the debris more . .. vill fall.

•'■'■•■ Portion of the Tunnel Collapses. ■■■•-' About eighty men are at the Public 'Works camp at Kaiwaka. where the dis- . aster occurred. They have been engaged for some time putting in the tunnel, which, when completed, will bo about ten chains in length through a hill The work is ' done in shifts by gangs of eight men ■ -'■'■■■ About two chains of tunnel had been -" completed to the spot where the fall ■• of earth took place, the men in the gang ■ id' addition to the three named above " being Messrs. C. Young, G. Fraser, M. - Conway, W. Jenkins and E. Jenkins, -'" * Thev -went into the tunnel for the 4 o'clock shift find had been at work barely ■• an hour when suddenly a portion of the funnel collapsed, completely burying the three victims. • Fortunately the men were a little scattered. Mr. Young, a single man. aged • ■ 50 years, was . caught by falling debris, * bat' managed to extricate himself and • - crawl clear, though injured about his '•" head and one shoulder. Mr. Fraser fell ■ : on his face, hut was not injured. •'■'." Mr. Hohensee, who was leader of the • gang, and Mr. O'Mahoney were thought to have been near the left hand side of . the tunnel, and Mr. Dimond was known to be on the right hand side. Rescue Party's Arduous Labour. Rescue operations were speedily under- '.-.' taken and have been very actively pro- -,■: ■■■ secuted all day to-day. An endeavour ' was at once made to locate the entombed ■ men, but uncertainty as to their position ■ made the' task difficult. Rescuers list- ■:• ened for sounds, but none came from the left. A sound was heard to the right after several hours' digging. The first victim was located after five hours' effort, and was found to be still -alive. The man was Mr. Charles Dimond. '' *He was found to be pinned down by two ;;,_ large /pieces of timber and rack; a huge ** piece of rock was pressing against his -; ! head, • ' , r "'i The work of the rescuers was difficult * : "and tedious and it was not until this ;-\ morning that he was finally released from s his precarious position and then only after a great fight. He was courageous to the last.. • '.'"".. After many futile efforts had been -made to loosen his foot, the buried man attempted to cut off lis own boot ? . . .with »v pocket-knife, but his arm was not * free "enough. Then he triad to use a chisel-to 4ever the beam away, but that also failed. As a last resort, the rescuers made a-scoop arrangement, by which they _ gradually. loosened the beam and rocks \ " "from around Mr. Dimond's foot. A rope . . //was -then/ placed around his body, and he •■•'.■--.-was pulled out gently, until his rescuers r> . could grasp and hold him. He was taken _,out amid cheers from those gathered in the tunneL *.; - - ..Marvellous Fortitude Shown. • ■?,,-• i When, rescued, Mr. Dimond was soaked ' //:iUv-water, ; , and quite cold. His clothes / were stripped off and he was wrapped in *"--' blankets. Under the influence of. stimu-lants,-he regained his circulation, and it ~?■«. .- ; wa» not long before he was comfortably . .in the ambulance. *.-•* "This is brie of the most wonderful per- / formances by men that I know of," said / Dr. Berriau, of Napier. "If was truly remarkable, and these men deserve some .jsorfefßecognition for their great rescue." During bis 16 hours' imprisonment, Mr. r Dimond bore his sufferings with marvellous fortitude, . and nevw winced, although his - position must have been causing him untold agony. :\ "In the fall the rocks and earth brought '-"down 'huge scaffolding,, several steel gir--.t'deirs and a certain amount.of concrete.' -~: .Groans were heard near the end of the ~ •, .-fall, and with these as a guide the res- ... cuers, in the face of continuous dangers, ... .began last evening to dig a tunnel , s : : through .to Mr. Dimond. At -first it was ;::■"■•' -impossible to reach him, owing to the '•danger of loosening the fall which was *< ■:. supported in several places by beams. «>a However, the rescuers got in about six /' r feet of packing, constructing a passage T-^as'they went. - v '~ : The next ktep was more dangerous. Bv ,; .means of ; a small hole scraped through < \;. : the 'debris it was possible to touch Mr. 1 't*_iP%°rfd as he lay jammed in a hole the side of the tunnel. •--...- ftoried Man Asks Por Cigarette. «•■•■;*•- When Dr. F. N. Harvey and Dr. Ber- • na.u arrived from Napier it was decided *. 0 to' give something in the way of a stimu- .'*""? lanitito./the buried man. Dr.. Harvey ; '*--first of all gave him a little whisky and ' later on two injections of morphia in his knee. ' This relieved Mr. Dimond considettibly; . Further investigations disclosed that ho was in half sitting position, the-heavy rock weighing down his head and shoulders. His face was practically buried and his legs were jammed by a huge rock on top of a scaffolding beam. --"'--"'-After-persistent efforts had been made '•-'■ Mr; Dimond's . face was half uncovered, v ; : >:«.nfi he- was able to smoke a cigarette for -_-.• .-which he - asked. Owing io the arduous a.-/- 1 and dangerous nature of the operations -"J the rescuers had to work in relays. '. :.ftnjy- one man at a time could get near Mr. Dimond and even then he had to lie -- fully stretched out at the. end of the .....Jail. r/;.— ? '• ... ■: ■ •: * . -:,"::;: Other workers wore busy cutting timber - -. with •-.'■■ which to support the earth and rocks. • At 11 p.m. the rescuers had so far i "■" progressed in their work that Mr. Dimond . ■".£ was* being fed with a tube. The work of 'fescue wr.s painfully slow. Each time a .ayan came out, however, there was another to take his place, and thus the :o procession went on. .'''-/ pathetic Features o! line Occurrence. -..,'' Midnight came and passed, and Mr. /Dimond still . lay jammed. By 3 .-.-;, a..m. -his- shoulders had been freed arid his -face uncovered, but it was still . impossible to act quickly owing to the : / fact -that one false move might bring tons of debris" on top of Mr. Dimond and his »■'.- would-be rescuers. From 1 a.m. onwards • - rumblings could be heard! in the collapsed portion/ and at times further falls would '•■"■&;■?(■ lake, pla.ee. ''I have been buried four times myself," <w*a one man in the tunnel, "but this • •■'• ? 1£ ■ lias knocked me up. Every time ■'•»-E.r^ :that , resc,ie hole l tremble like : on ° l^ Charlie is a hero i£ ever thi M work progressed and * efiett, iT^K^L?" 511 doubled their - increase, All fc w « ings a - nd falls would .1 *"L M *. »K§s*jES """MTthe rescuers , -vv a bf»g* mWT »»tant death was li. ?--* supported tC, which ;..- u Diwiowl had Ws m™. .gy 5 a .m. Mr. fc. , >'ing to. »scn, Wl £* w?» and was help. .the rocks that aeW^^Ll 0 a P ln B away mmfrm»"«. p*p» wck hu g^ Wl-V " v ' mcn b ad jammed

him in?the .first '■■ place had - been cut away by? saws *. bat this i left : !t leg j:wa? securely pinned. < However, he was eventually reteased, and is now ; doing well in hospital. <S One nathetic ;feature wot the affair was the iwatch kept by Mrs, Hohensee, .wild of one of the men still entombed. She staved in the tunnel all through the night in "the hope of securing some news of her husband. Even .when the light of daybreak filtered in through the s mouth of the tunnel she was still huddled up on '"'some planks a few feet away from where the nascuers were working. *'

DETAILS OF THE VICTIMS.

ONE GREY LYNN RESIDENT. Mr. John Robert Hohensee, one of the men who is still entombed in the collapsed tunnel at Kaiwaka, is a native of Queensland, but came to New Zealand some years ago. Ho is about 39 years of age and was married at Wellington in 1919. He then went to Queensland intending to take up farming, but soon returned to New Zealand again. He had had considerable experience in tunnelling work ad was engaged at the Mangahao hydro-electric works with the gang which was overtaken by disaster early in July of last year. Mr. Hohensee, however, had left for Auckland two days before his companions were killed. He has a home at Grey Lynn, hut for the past three months has been living with his wife at Eskdale, near the scene of the accident. Mr. Dimond was a member of the Tunnelling Corps in the New Zealand Forces at the time of the Great War. Mr. O'Mahoney is a native of Ireland, and has a sister residing in Hamilton. A Press Association message received late last night stated that the two men, Messrs. Hohensee and O'Malley, still remained entombed in the tunnel. Rescue work was being continued, but the chances of releasing the men alive were considered to be remote. Mr. Dimond was reported to be progressing satisfactorily, but is not out of danger.