CAR SWEPT OFF FORD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19897, 16 March 1928, Page 10

CAR SWEPT OFF FORD.

PASSENGERS' ANXIOUS TIME. VEHICLE SAVED BY ROCKS. OCCUPANTS WADE TC SHORE. ■ ■■■• [bt telegraph.—own correspondent ] GIBBORNE, Thursday. An alarming experience befel the driver and six passengers of a service car when the vehicle was swept off the concrete ford at the Tongoio crossing, between Wairoa and Napier;, and the occupants placed in considerable peril. Fortunately the car lodged between two rocks which prevented its turning over, and the passengers were able to wade ashore. The baggage, however, floated downstream and was only retrieved after considerable trouble. When waiting for a preceding car to cross the ford, the service car passengers noted with some uneasiness a gradual rise in the level of the stream, which reached a depth of more than two feet. The first vehicle crossed safely, but while the service car was crossing a heavy boulder rolled down the bed of the stream and across the concretf. It struck the front wheels of the car, and the weight of the impact, added to the strain imposed by the strong current, knocked the wheels sideways and slewed the car round until it headed almost downstream, plunging obliquely. However, the vehicle became jammed between two large rocks and these prevented its fall over the edge of the ford. While the passengers endeavoured to escape a wetting the luggage floated or was swept out of the car and carried downstream. It was later recovered on a sandspit. A roadman entered the stream and carried the one woman passenger to dry ground, but the other travellers had to wade ashore through water wuist deep. Other service and private cars were delayed for some time before the water subsided sufficiently to ensure a safe crossing of the ford.