CRASH IN TUNNEL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23879, 1 February 1941, Page 11

CRASH IN TUNNEL

j TRAIN STRIKES SLIP PASSENGERS' ORDEAL HOLES BURIED IN DEBRIS (By Tasman Air Mail) SYDNEY, Jan. 30 Five 6f 12 people injured when the Thnllon mail train crashed into a landglide five miles from Toowoomba, southwestern Queensland, woro pinned in the wreckage for five hours. Mrs. Clara Ibell. children, two of whom weie also injured. died a few hours later. The train was wrecked at 11 p.m. in n tunnel, but a rescue train did not arrive until 2.35 a.m. All that time in the darkness of the tunnel the uninjured passengers stood by unable to help listening to the moans of those trapped in the first two carriages. Screaming women climbed over the wreckage looking for children lost in the confusion of the crash. Long Wait for Relief The train was travelling at 20 miles nu hour when the crash occurred. The engine had just cleared the tunnel mouth when it crashed into a landslide of hundreds ot tons of soil and rock jiiled up over the track. The second carriage of the train was forced halfway into the first. The two carriages were buckled against the wall of the tunnel. Five passengers travelling in the forward compartments ot the second carriage Were buried in the debris. Seven other passengers in the roar of tho same carriage were injured. The enginedriver ran two miles to a signal-box, where lie telephoned to Toowoomba for help. It took two hours to arrange for ii rescue train. When it arrived, men set to ' work in the light, of oil and acetylene lamps to cut through the debris with hacksaws and blow torches. Mother's Fortitude The first passenger was released at 4 a.m. Two men, pinned against tho chassis of the first carriage, suffered in A tense agony as a doctor and ambulance bearers made desperate efforts to lift the weight off them. One had his head jammed between two seats, upon which rested the full weight of the wrecked carriage, while the other had his right leg and left foot wedged fast in heavy ironwork. Miss Matilda Midler said she was imprisoned in the wreckage for three hours.,'' She could move her head only a few inches. ''l was quiet for a bit." she said. " but when 1 heard others screaming and moaning 1 screamed too Quite 4'lose to me I heard Mrs. Ibell (who died later in hospital) telling her three children to sit quietly."