KOPUAWHARA DISASTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22971, 24 February 1938, Page 12

KOPUAWHARA DISASTER

Impressive evidence of the terrific power and unprecedented volume of the flood which overwhelmed the railway camp at Kopuawhara is given in a statement by the Minister of Public Works published this morning. Had there been any question of the fell forces unloosed by the waters in that little valley, Mr. Semple's account of what he has seen, and especially of the tossing received by 50-ton bridge spans, would have disposed of it. Another question will arise, however, in many thoughtful minds. If is whether Mr. Semple is entitled or well advised to go beyond what he has seen and draw conclusions absolving himself and his staff from all blame. Everyone will hope, of course, that such is the final conclusion. None would wish to see blame fall on anyone for the sudden death of 21 people. But everyone will also wish to see the facts established after proper and full inquiry. Although Mr. Semple has preceded him, the coroner has yet to hold his inquest and, it may be expected, will not be influenced in any way by the fact that the Minister has already brought in and published an emphatic verdict. That verdict, incidentally, is the same as the one pronounced by Mr. Semple when he received the news in Wellington and before he visited and examined the scene of the disaster. "It can only be described as an act of Go,d," he repeats, "for which no human being is to blame." The point is one for the coroner to decide. He also will have to be satisfied as to the cause of the blockage of the stream above the camp, a question Mr. Semple also volunteers to answer in such a way as to remove any blame from the works plan. Mr, Semple cannot be sole witness and judge in his own department's case. Indeed the magnitude of the disaster is so great and the loss of human and animal life so heavy that the public will be justified in demanding an inquiry into more general aspects of the case than may come within the coroner's province.