EERIE SCENE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22998, 28 March 1938, Page 11

EERIE SCENE

STEAM AND WRECKAGE EXPERIENCES DESCRIBED UNFORGETTABLE SIGHT MAN STRUCK BY DOOR [by telegraph—own cokkkspoxdknt] WANGANUI, Sunday "I thought the train was slowing down for a station which 1 took to bo Arainoho, and was just thinking about collecting my luggage when there was a sudden heavy jolt." said Mr. T. J. Calnan, of Herald Street, Wanganui, who was proceeding to Wanganui to spend the week-end with friends. He said he was sitting in the front corner teat 011 the right-hand side of the front compartment of the third carriage from the engine, when he Mas thrown over to the opposite side of tne aisle. "The sudden jolt made nie realise that something out of the ordinary was happening and 1 had a sudden premonition of danger," Mr. Calnan continued. "The door of the car fell 011 top of me and for a few seconds the interior of the carriage was in a stato of confusion."

The first tiling Mr. Calnnn noticed was the glow from tlie firebox of tho locomotive, which was on its side opposite the carriage and emitting largo quantities of steam. The glow from the lirehox was reflected on the steam and for a second or so he thought the wreckage of tho train was on fire. He had no difficulty in getting out as he had escaped with only minor bruises on one leg. ''An old man and a woman who were sitting opposite me were severely injured, tho old man receiving the worst injuries of any passenger in the carriage," said Mr. Calnnn. A woman and a girl were also badly injured. The whole of the right-hand side of the carriage was smashed in and was squashed almost over the opposite sido as the carriage struck the sido of the cutting.

"No One Shirked Duty" Mr. Calnan paid a tribute to tho heroic work of the passengers who were fortunate to escapo without injury. "Everyone," he said, "did their work well and no one shirked his duty. As soon as we got out we who were not injured immediately got to to ex'tricate those who were imprisoned in the wreckage and those who were injured. Some of the hapless passengers were well tangled up in the wreckage and it was a hard task to got them out." Mr. Calnan mentioned that the first ambulance was on the sceno of the accident within threo-quarters of an hour. "I was dozing and the first thing I knew was a sudden bump followed by the splintering of wood and tho crashing of carriages, and then everything in tho carriage was thrown into confusion," said one of the passengers in the second carriage, which travelled right past the engine and tender and was extensively damaged. There were screams from other passengers in the carriago and pieces of tho left side of the car were flying about everywhere.

Side of Carriage Gone When tho carriage came to rest, ho said, he found himself lying.under the remnants of a seat with the body of another person lying over him. The whole side of the compartment of tho carriage was torn out and some of the passengers seemed to have been thrown on to the permanent way, "1" was one of the first passengers out of the train and the sight which met my eyes was one which I will never forget," the passenger continued. "The engine lay on the left-hand embankment with its bogey arid cow catcher buried in the earth and steam hissing out of broken pipes. Screams wero heard in several places and one or two injured peoplo were groaning loudly, the whole scene being very eerie indeed. Three of the bodies were removed from the space between tho engine and the third carriage, while a woman passed away shortly after she was picked up." Like others this speaker paid a tribute to the work of fortunate passengers in caring for the injured and those who were suffering from shock.