MELBOURNE DISASTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19008, 4 May 1925, Page 11

MELBOURNE DISASTER.

NEW BUILDING COLLAPSES. FOUR MEN KILLED. MANY OTHERS BURIED. • A £50,000 STRUCTURE. With a deafening roar the fourth floor of an uncompleted, six-storey concrete building in Melbourne collapsed on April 24. Four men were dead when extricated from the wreckage, and three were seriously injured. The building was being erected for the British Australasian Tobacco Company, in Swanston Street. The back part, which collapsed, faces Stewart Street, a narrow street parallel with Swanston Street. The fire brigade was first on the scene, and escape ladders were run up against the still quivering walls. The way to the stairs was cleared, and then workmen made a feverish search for their buried mates. The building collapsed about half-past four o'clock, and one body was found soon after. Two bodies were recovered about six o'clock. Little warning was given of the collapse. On the fourth floor, the roof, and the third floor were dozens of workmen—carpenters, plasterers, white-washers, painters and labourers. Everyone was in ' good spirits, for the pay envelopes were being passed round. Suddenly was heard a slow, grinding sound, as if dozens of cartloads, of road metal were being emptied simultaneously. The workmen looked up, and were terrified to sec the wall facing Stewart Street bulge arid bend outwards and inwards, like a sheet in the wind. " A Roar Like Thunder." Then followed a roar like thunder. Men screamed Warnings to their mates, and a wild rush was made'for the exits. Those who ran toward Swanston Street were lucky; but only a few of those who ran to the back of the building escaped. The walls gave way, the roof fell, and giant concrete piers were shattered. The falling concrete penetrated the fourth floor and, unable to withstand the enormous weight, several piers below collapsed also. Workmen tied in every direction, and some, in their haste, slid down the scaffolding in Swanston Street. • Their panic was only momentary, and when they reached the ground many immediately reentered the building while wreckage was , still falling, in search of their mates. The following man were, killed George Marshall (sen.), white-washing contractor; Victor Ingham, foreman carpenter; Edgar Lydiard; H. P. Archibald. The following were injured;— George Marshall, jun., fractured leg and spine; Reginald Shaw, fractured leg; Edward; Falkiner, fractured leg, head and spine injuries. Five Hundred Tons. Five hundred tons of concrete, it is estimated, fell on the workmen. When the dust cleared large slabs, held only by the reinforcing iron bars, were hanging over Stewart Street. The stairs were <• almost completely blocked, and tho rescuers found it difficult to force their way to the top of the building. Perched on top of a wall that swayed in tho breeze was Jack Wren, a carpenter. Tho wall was all that was left of the motorroom of one of the lift wells. He had felt the building collapsing beneath him, but decided that he had no chance of climbing down, so, in his own words, "I stuck where I was and trusted to luck." He was suspended 15ft. above the wreckage, and had to be helped down. The rescuers on the top floor faced great danger. One wall of the lift motor-house was swaying, and bo much of the floor had fallen in that it was dangerous to walk anywhere. While workmen with picks and axes were clearing the wreckage, foremen and the contractors' representatives shouted warnings when it was thought that the floor and walls might collapse further. The jfesfcuers took no notice of tho Wyrtiings.

One injured man was easily rescued, and was taken to the Melbourne Hospital. Then the workmen concentrated on the men who could be seen. When they cleared the wreckage' from one man's face he was smiling, and said, " Who has a cigarette?" He was, the most cheerful man of the party. "Do not hurry," he said, " I am all right. How are the others?" He laughed when a stretcher was ordered for nim, and said, " I do not want a stretcher. I want to help you with the others." When rescued he pushed aside the men who tried to help him to the stretcher, but he could not Victims' Bodies Recovered.

Those who directed the rescue operation were greatly handicapped because the workmen were known among themselves > only by their christian names, and it was ' difficult to find who was really missing," qr where the missing men were last seen. Darkness fell while the men were still digging in the ruins and electric lights were stiung across the building. A doctor arrived at the building and he awaited the recovery of bodies.' While most of the men were working on the top of the building two or three men went to the third floor and began digging away the wreckage in the light well. These men had been standing near Lvdiard and one of them thought, that Lydiard disappeared down the well. The men on the third floor worked in semi-darkness until one cried, " Bring a light, I have touched his leg." When the light was brought Lvdiard's two feet were seen. Picks and shovels were abandoned and the men worked with their hands to recover the body. The .doctor decided in a moment that Lydiard was dead. Pitiful S:enes. Above, the search for the others eontinned. At last, from under a great pile of concrete and timber, Ingham s body was dragged. He was crushed beyond recognition and death had been instantaneous. Many men turned away as n:s bodv was removed. Pitiful scenes were witnessed when the bodies of the victims were taken to the ambulances. Lighted only bv hurricane© lamps and electric torches, the ambulance - men and stretcher-bearers picked their way cautiously down four flights of stairs amid tangled scaffolding. Barricades were erected at each end of the street, and until a late hour a large crowd of people remained in the vicinity of the scene of the disaster. Harrowing episodes marked the arrival of relatives of the victims, and Mr. Cooper, one of the contractors, was led away from the place in a state o£ collapse. Constructed of reinforced concrete, the building was being erected by Messrs. Cochram and Cooner, contractors, for the British Australasian Tobacco Company Pty., Ltd. The estimated cost of the * structure was £50.000, and it had been in course of erection for about sis months.