AWFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4200, 27 January 1885, Page 2

AWFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT

MANY PEOPLE KILLED

A TERRIBLE SCENE,

Sydney, this day.

A terrible accident occured to the mail train last night near Cootamundra, on the Southern line. Owing to the heavy rain an embankment had given way, and the train rushed into the gap in the darkness and was completely wrecked. Many carriages were telescoped and several passengers killed and wounded. The scene was one of intense horror. Assistance has been sent. Further particulars will be forwarded later Later. The train which ran off the line near Cootamundra last night contained amorc its passengers a number of bookmakei§> all of whom escaped with only sli^HM injuries. No particulars have yet been received of the casualties. There was a culvert, fifty yards wide and nine yards deep, beneath the embankment. This culvert collapsed, making a huge gully, into which the train rushed at full speed, as it was not seen in the darkness. The carriages precipitated into the gap fairly dammed the creek, and several persons were washed down the stream. Others were killed by the force of the concussion. Several miraculous escapes are reported to have occurred. The Minister of Railways and the leading officials of the Railway Department have left here for the scene of the disaster. Later. Seven bodies have been recovered from the Cootamundra railway accident. They are those of Crawford, a railway employee; Wilson, do. ; O'Dwyer, the mail guard ; Campselly, a railway official ; and a woman and two children whose names are unknown. Numbers of persons have suffered more or less serious injuries. Later. Several of the sufferers by the railway accident have been removed to Goulburn, while the others remain at Cootamundra. One of those injured, named Bergin, is not expected to recover. The wreck of the train presents a terrible scene. An inquest has been opened on the bodies of the killed, but has been adjourned. The rain has carried away a portion of the western railway line, and traffic is partially suspended in consequence.