PLUNGE INTO RIVER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19092, 10 August 1925, Page 8

PLUNGE INTO RIVER.

MILK VAN SUBMERGED. MORNING DELIVERY LOST. LUCKY ESCAPE OF DRIVER. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CHRISTCHURCH. Saturday. Plunging into the River Avon near Dallington early this morning a milk van driven by Mr, A. A. Moore and carrying 350 bottles of milk turned on its side and sank to the bottom of the river. All the milk was lost.

The lorry was extensively damaged and the driver was soaked to the skin and nar. rowly missed being pinned beneath the van.

Tho river is about 6ft. d<*ep at the point where tho mishap occurred, and the lorry was completely under water before Mr. Mooro could free himself. As soon as some neighbours in tho vicinity became aware of his plight he was taken in and provided with dry clothes. It was four o'clock this morning when the lorry took its plunge and Mr. Moore had delivered his first bottle of milk only. Ho was endeavouring to turn tho lorry in front of a house in River Road when the rear wheels slipped back on to the soft turf of the river bank, causing tho driver to lose control. Tho van went into the river rear foremost and then turned over on to its sido, the bottles and their crates falling in all directions. Thero were 250 customers yet to be served, "but they didn't get their milk," said Mr. Moore. "We lost tho lot."

Later in the morning tho van was hauled out of the river.