A TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20337, 20 February 1928, Page 10

A TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE.

LANDING STAGE COLLAPSES. FIFTY CHILDREN ENDANGERED. ALL RESCUED WITHOUT MISHAP. (Special to Daily Times.) CHRISTCHURCH, February 18. Fifty children faced possible drowning in nearly 6ft of water when the launch staging collapsed at Kaiapoi to-day during the progress of the regatta. They were all rescued by means of motor boats and the help of people on the bank. The staging slowly sank to a depth of about 2ft. It was only the iron piping used as a railing that prevented it from breaking as it collapsed. There were cries from the children and terrified shrieks from the women. The banks of the river and the main bridge near the pontoon were crowded with people watching the regatta events. The staging, which had been called upon to bear the weight of about 50 children, showed signs of giving way about 3 p.m. The large watertight barrels at the end farthest from the bank sank to a depth of Ift, and it was a miracle fhat none of the ’children fell overboard. One boy dived into the river and swam ashore. The rest of the children made to leave the pontoon, but the pressure of the crowd on the bank prevented them doing so in time. As the children swarmed along the gangway from the end of the staging to the bank the wooden structure bent in the middle. The terrified children were sunk into 2ft of water, but' luckily the iron pipes prevented a catastrophe. people in motor boats an d others on the bank pulled the children out of the water until only one girl remained. This child had her foot caught in the staging, which had to be wrenched up to release her. The children were little the worse for their experience. The staging rested with the gangway deep in the water, and the barrels almost in the air. The pontoon was erected as _a landing stage for launches by the Waimakariri Harbour Board.