DISASTER IN QUEENSLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19041, 11 June 1925, Page 9

DISASTER IN QUEENSLAND.

wreck of mail train. INJUREDTOTAL FIFTY-FIVE. HEARTRENDING INCIDENTS. HEROISM OF SURVIVORS. MANY NARROW ESCAPES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received 12.5 a.m.) A. and N.Z. BRISBANE. June 10. The two victims of the Brisbane mail train disaster whose names were previously unknown have now been identified. They were:— Mr. Shadwell, of Boonah, Queensland. Sir. Benjamin Hill, of Brisbane. Mr. John Dean, husband of Mrs. Sadie Dean, who was killed, said they were married in January. They came from Gunnedah to Queensland to search for work. His wife had just stepped into the lavatory when the smash occurred. He managed after the first shock to open the door and heard his wife moan and call his name. Ho tried to move her but she was pinned beneath the wreckage which, he , had to cut away. Prior to the accident an unusual knocking noise 'was heard behind their carriage, but no one investigated. Mr. Jack Stephens, one of tUie injured, said he was in the second to last section of the carriage which fell over the bridge. The train was going at a fairly fast pace and shortly before the smash "lie thought he folt the carriage bumping. He looked out of the window and his friend, Mr. Philip Reid, who was killed, also looked out. They noticed the van behind projecting very much outside the line of carriages and sparks were flying from the wheels. , Mr. Stephens went and pulled the communication cord.. As he did so tho carriage gave a violent lurch and toppled over the side of the bridge. He was stunned, and when he recovered his senses he found himself lying on his face in the dirt by the side of the creek. People were crying out and moaning all around him. He' struggled out of the debris was attended to by an ambulance man. List" o! Those Injured. The list of thoso injured totals 55. Many of tho injuries were, however, not of a serious character. Mr.. Henry Clark, of Nundah, and Mrs. Robinson, of Lcngreach, are in a critical condition: . Mr. Henry Clarkson, of Brisbane, was dangerously injured. He is suffering from a fractured, skull. Mr. Walter Powell, of Dunedin, and Mr. C. f Corbett, of Marlborough,. wero the only/ New Zealanders. 'injured. Mr. Powell is suffering from injuries'to his head and < Mr. Corbett from a bruised knee. The most seriously injured are: — Messrs. Frederick Glover, severe shock; Everard Prizeman,. injured head and arms and internal injuries Fred. Jackson, bad cuts and bruises; Joseph Tawrell, internal, and head iujuries; Thomas Moore, a broken leg; Mavis Gould, internal injuries; W. Smith, injured back. Injuries to the head were sustained by Messrs. Douglas, Bloomfield, Jack Dean, Tom Dempsey, W. Davey, C. Baxter, George Arlett, Hugh Graham, Damasco Dawatanco, A. Conyard, W. Fursden and Mrs. Mac Lean. r - V Chief Casualties in Double Coach. There were no casualties among the first-class passengers. The chief injury and loss of life occurred in the .composite coach, which v/ias pulled from the bridge by the luggage waggon. Both were smashed practically to matchwoods ; Among the passengers were the members' of the Phillip Lytton Dramatic Company, consisting of 18 men and women.. All escaped injury except Miss Ethel Page, whose hurt is not serious. Mr. H. Hartley, a member of the Legislative Assembly, who was aboard the train, escaped scathless. Terrible Scenes of Suffering. .Many terrible scenes of suffering were witnessed by early arrivals on the scene.. Passengers from the front portion of the train and ambulance men performed heroic work in removing the injured. Jacks had frequently to be used to release the injured. Heavy beams had to bo moved and passages had to be cut. to get at the bodies. There many narrow escapes. One man was free,except for his feet. The woodwork had to be cut to release him. Another man was thrown through a window. He fell 20ft., but was not hurt. One woman passenger was brought out from a carriage with her infant clasped to her breast. Both were dead. Another woman held a dead child in her arms and she herself was badly injured. One child, 15 months old, crawled out of a mass of wreckage slightly injured on the head. The derailed carriages were standing on their heads with the wheels in the air. The rescuers carried on their work amid the distressing cries and groans of tbe injured and those pinned to the wreckage. Damage to Permanent Way. A telegram from the Railway Commissioner to the Minister for Railways states . that two carriages and the luggage waggon at the rear of the train next to the guard's van left the rails. One carriage fell from , tho bridge. The other, which fell on its side on the track, is in good order. Owing to the debris it is impossible at present to ascertain the actual cause of the derailment. The permanent way and. the bridge are badly damaged. The track shows that the sleepers were cut and'splintered for V 2 miles before reaching the creek. The carriages were dragged for that distanco before they took the plunge. Tho luggage waggon bumped ovei three bridges while it was off the rails. ■ Yet the guard did not notice anything wrong..