OTIRA TUNNEL DISASTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 53

OTIRA TUNNEL DISASTER.

COLLAPSE OF THE HOOF. NO FATALITIES RECORDED. SEVERAL MIRACULOUS ESCAPES. HEROIC CONDUCT OF MEN. ENTOMBED WORKERS FED BY AIR PIPE. (Feom Our Owfr Correspondent:) CHRISTCHURCH, May 2. At half-past 8 this morning, at the Bealey enc of the Otira tunnel, without any warning, a sill under which the day shift was working collapsed, engulfing five men—James Shaw, James M'Keich, Claud Bray, Walter Rae, and J. Mahoney. A rescue party of three men—Alexander Beard, G. Pitts, and C. Beamer—rushed to the scene. One man, James Shaw, stood near a prop of timber, having one of his lege badly fractured, when he was rescued by being dragged out by a comrade through falling rubble. No sooner had he been pulled away than, the prop collapsed, and his life was saved. Claude Bray was rescued by George Pitts, who returned, only to be engulfed himself. J. M'Keich, the tunnel foreman, himsei escaped from the tunnel, but on going to the rescue he received severe bruises on the head and face, and a fractured ankle. The rescuers were in only some 10 minutes when a second fall occurred, even bigger than the first.' The rescuers rushed for freedom, and most miraculously escaped—all except Pitts, who had returned. Some of them were in the midst of rescuing those engulfed by the first fall, and had they been given five more minutes three men would at once have been saved. DEADLY HAIL OP ROCK.

The deadly hail of rock and rubble forced: the rescuers to rush out. Thus, at 9 o'clock, there were buried in the tunnel two men—James Doyle and - Duggan—of whose plight there was no exact knowledge, arid the three men—A. Beard, C. Beamer, and G. Pitts—who were known to be near a truck which might possibly save their lives.

The rescuing party worked with tremendous energy to help their mates. They could, hear the voices of the three men near the truck, and had even signalled by means of rapping the air pipe to at least one of the other men who seemed to have escaped immediate death by rushing further down the tunnel. M'Keich and Shaw were conveyed by special conveyance to Cass, there to be met by a train f ' Broken River, that they might be Cu. .yed to Christ-church Hospital. A doctor and nurse were sent for from Greymouth. and they arrived by special train and conveyance at 4 p.m., and have been tending the injured ever since their arrival. There were many wonderful escapes from death for those -within the tunnel when the second fall occurred. Many received bruises and cuts, but made light of them. Mr J. Mahoney received an injury to his back, but is getting on well. THE RESCUERS' DIFFICULTIES. The -rescuers have had very great difficulty in Teaching their mates owing to the bad state. of the fallen earth, i'ock, and timber, and the very preoarious state of the entrapped men. Some two or three lengths of timbering are down, and the gravel fall has run right up to the surface outside. The collapsed portion is about two chains in, about 30ft from the surface. Although the men—Pitts, Beamer, and Beard—were able to be communicated with from 10 a.m., and were even given nourishment, they were in such a bad position that it was particulalv dangerous to move anything near them for ?ear of a further collapse of rock and earth. The truck saved their lives. It was some 15ft under the fallen debris, but the resecuers tunnelled along- the side of the big tunnel and so reached the truck. At 4 p.m. Beard was rescued, and Pitts at 5 p.m., and it was not till 9.30 that Beamer could be rescued. IMPRISONED MEN'S SUFFERINGS. The positions in which these men lay all day baffles description. What must have been their feelings ? It seemed impossible for them to have been brought out alive. There is difficulty in ascertaining the exact injuries to the men, though it seems at present that they are not seriously injured in any way. All day long, by means of striking the air pipe, communication has been made with someone within the tunnel. HEROIC RESCUERS. The fact that no lives were lost in the tunnel seems almost incredible to one who views the extent of the fall and hears the stories of the men who were inside when the occurrence took place. The heroism of those rescuers appears to have been the outstanding feature of the day's stirring events. When the tunnel came in with a thundering and terrifying crash, the men who were left not

entombed at once started the rescue work. Then the second fal4 came, and still more men were entombed ot buried beneath the debris and a general alarm was given.

The workers at the tunnel were speedily reinforced by the men from the camp. They started the work of rescue with tremendous energy, and kept going at the same pace during the whole day.

The first care of the rescuers, was to bring the electric light into the tunnel, so that the rescue operations could be carried on with . facility. Then the part of the tunnel nearest the fall was more heavily timbered to make further falls improbable. While this necessaTy work was being done small falls of stone and earth were coming down about the ears of the rescuers, and though each slip might have been the precursor of the descent of hundreds of tons of earth, not a man left his post. The timbering, or " catching up," as the tunnel man calls it, was done expeditiously, and when the rescuers commenced to put a drive through the debris towards the men who were buried, only two men could work together in the drive, but each couple shovelled and picked away until the exertion began to tell and then gave way for fresh men. SOME DEEDS OF HEROISM. Many deeds of heroism were performed, and it would not be out of place to. relate a few of the more striking incidents. One of the rescuers was a man named J. Mahoney. After the first fall took place, he ran to the truck Tound which three men lay. He was in the act of disentangling Beamer, and had succeeded in clearing everything except his legs, when the second fall came. The rocks and earth were tumbling down all around the pair, and before Mahoney left his mate he grasped a stout piece of timber and placed it against the truck in such a position that it lay on an incline and sheltered Beamer from the falling stuff. Mahoney then had to rush out, and though he was twice felled by the falling material, he managed to get out all right. George Pitts is also one of the heroes of the hour. He was one of the rescuers, and his first part was to save Bray, who was hurt rather badly.. After getting Bray out, Pitts ran back to help another man, and while trying to rescue him got caught himself. His head was jammed against the buffer of the truck, and he was pressed down by the debris. He lay for eight hours in a most trying position, and apparently suffered the most intense pain through cramp. He was there for eight or nine hours before he was rescued.

Shaw, who was taken to the Christchurch Hospital, was saved by a young man named Maher. Shaw had his leg broken in the first fall, but he managed to get on to his feet, and stood up against a pillar. Maher, who was making for the exit, heard Shaw say that his leg was broken, and at once got hold of him to assist him out. Maher dragged him away, • and just got him clear when the pillar against which Shaw had been leaning gave way with a crash under the weight of rock pressing against it. The pair had a tumble before getting clear, which they just managed to do before the second fall, which was even heavier than the first, came down. Another man seems to have saved his own life by his presence of mind. A big rock jammed his foot against the big waterpipe, and all his efforts to get free were unavailing. He was carrying a pick, and with this he attacked the rock which was holding him, splintering it with a few powerful'blows. These are only a few examples of many deeds of bravery. The men who were engaged in the rescue work in the tunnel took their lives in their hands when they stayed there hour after hour working towards their entombed mates. A glance at the position where they lay makes one shudder at the awfulness of their experience, and exclaim that only a miracle prevented their lives being instantaneously crushed out. This applies particularly to Beard, Pitts, and Beamer, the three men who were round the truck. Beamer had to be sawed out, just as Pitts had to be, and his final release was only accomplished with the aid of a rope. DUGGAN AND DOYLE SAFE. The only two now remaining in the tunnel are'Duggan and Doyle, and, judging by the tone of their messages, they are both well and cheerful. "They are well inside the tunnel, away from the area of the fall, and their i'escue is only a question of hours. They are communicated with by means of the air pipe, which runs along the floor of the tunnel. Conversation could easily be carried on, and the imprisoned men returned cheerful answers to the messages shouted down to them. The problem of getting refreshments to them was solved in a very satisfactory way. An opening was made in the air pipe and food was placed inside, and then the compressor was called into requisition. One puff and the food was in the hands of the watchers at the other end. It may be mentioned here that these two men can see the stars through the opening in the roof of the tunnel, and, if the worst came to the worst, they could attempt a scramble up to the top. They have, however, been advised not to attempt to climb, as the shingle might come down and engulf them. In the meantime a cross drive is being put in from the river bed fide. It will have to go in a distance of 33ft to oet to the: tunnel drive, and it is anticipated that the rescuers will get to the men in the morning. The men are doing four hours' shifts at the driving, and working on the job like Trojans. A word of praise is due to Dr M'Brearty and Nurse Dre-witt, of Greymouth, who arrived at Bealey Flat about 5 o'clock with all the necessary surgical and medical appliances. Their attentions

were very much appreciated by the injured men, who speak in the warmest terms of their kindness.

The latest news i>s that good progress is being made with the cross drive to the tunnel heading. There is a general feeling in thankfulness here that the occurrence, which in some respects is a serious one, did not result in any loss of life. The Telegraph Department has placed a special instrument at Beaky Flat, in the charge of Mr Rendle, and a large number of messages were expeditiously dealt with. SOME FURTHER PARTICULARS. ACCIDENT EXAGGERATED IN GREYMOUTH. (From Our Own Correspondent.) GREYMOUTH, May 2. A great sensation was caused in town this morning when rumours were spread to the effect that a dire disaster had occurred at the Bealey end of the Otira tunnel. The first news suggested that 20 men had been entombed, and that of these 18 had been killed outright. Later reports minimised the extent of the disaster. At 7 o'clock the safety of eight had been acounted for, leaving two still missing. Throughout the day news drifted through in a most disjointed fashion, due largely to a defective wire between Otira and Bealey Flat. At 11.15 a.m. a special train departed from Greymouth with Dr M'Brearty, Nurse Drewitt, and ambulance, appurtenances, Otira being reached' at 1.55 p.m. A Star reporter, who accompanied the party, says the collapse of the tunnel roof took place about six chains from the mouth in loose shingle, supposed to be just at the beginning of the river bed. At 5 p.m. Beard coul-d be seen, but was not yet extricated. Stimulants were passed to him to enable him to fight against the terrible ordeal he was being subjected to. The men so far recovered with injuries •e :—James Shaw (leg broken in two places), James M'Keich (crushed foot and head cut), Claude Bray (injured back and head), Walter Rae (cut about the head and hands), J. Mahoney (badly crushed). MEN TAKEN TO CHRISTCHURCH HOSPITAL. CHRISTCHURCH, May 2. Two of the men injured in the. Otira tunnel accident —M'Keich (underground foreman) and J. Shaw (trucker) —arrived by a late train from Broken River tonight, arid were taken to th* hospital, where they are being operated on. Shaw is suffering from a broken leg and M'Keich from general bodily injuries. LATEST OFFICAL MESSAGE. ALL MEN SAFE. WELLINGTON, May 2. Murdoch M'Lean, one of the" contractors who are constructing the Otira tunnel, has received the following telegram from Bealey Flat,: —" At 8.5 p.m. Pitts and Baird were rescued. They are suffering from shock only. , Can get hold of Beamer, but his legs are pinned down. Hope to have him out in about an hour. • Can hear Doyle and Duggan tapping on the water pipe. Have put in drive about four chains from face, length about 30ft. Hope to have men out early to-morrow morning." WEST COAST VOLUNTEERS. GREYMOUTH, May 2. Twenty-five Blackball miners volunteered to help in the rescue of the Otira men if required. The Mayor of Kumara wired offering 20 miners if needed.