KILLED BY GAS FUMES

Southland Times, Issue 20204, 15 June 1927, Page 11

KILLED BY GAS FUMES

TWO LIVES LOST IN TUNNEL. LABOURER’S HEROIC DEED. Sydney, June 2. Overcome by fumes in a tunnel at Pymble, near Sydney, on Tuesday, two men succumbed and six others who gallantly attempted to rescue them were affected. There was about a foot of water at the bottom of the tunnel, and it is surmised that the men collapsed through inhaling the fumes and were drowned. Several residents of the district made serious statements concerning the tragedy. It was said that the leak should have been attended to many days ago. One man stated that a strong odour of gas had hung about the corner for nearly two weeks, and he had heard complaints from a number of people about it. Those who met their death were John Simmons, aged 43, turncock, of Pymble, and Herbert Sharpe, aged 40, labourer, of Willoughby. It was M'hile workmen were searching for the leak that the tragedy occurred, Simmons descending a 9ft. shaft to a tunnel, after the shaft had been allowed to remain open for ten minutes. Some minutes later Sharpe, who was working near by, hearing no sound from the tunnel, climbed down the shaft. The deadly fumes must have gripped him as soon as he entered the manhole, for Shephard, who was working nearby, heard a frantic cry for help. Sharpe showed great heroism, for he must have known that his mate had been overcome by fumes. Shephard rushed to the shaft, and was descending it when the fumes caught him. Pluckily he tried to struggle to the rescue of the men at the bottom of the tunnel, but he was forced to give in, and, gasping for breath, he was dragged to the surface by other workmen, who caught, hold of him as he tried to fight his way up the ladder. Porter, Furner, Livingstone and Berwick all made gallant efforts to reach the two men inside the shaft, but the task was an impossible one. It is believed that Sharpe and Simmons perished within a few minutes. It was some time before Sergeant Lowery, who procured a hooked iron bar about 15ft. long, secured the two bodies. In doing so the sergeant was almost overcome by the fumes which eddied from the shaft. A pathetic feature of the affair is that Sharpe, a widower, leaves five children. Simmons is survived by a wife and two children. What kind of gas it was that killed the two men is not yet known, nor has the source of the leak been discovered. It is thought, however, that there must have been a leak in a gas main near the tunnel, which gave access to a water main valve.