MELBOURNE RAILWAY SMASH.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10, 5 September 1912, Page 8

MELBOURNE RAILWAY SMASH.

TWO FATALITIES. THE CRIES OF 39 INJURED. Melbourne, September 4. lA disastrous railway accident occurred to-nigjhlb, when a special train from tho Floraington Showground crashes into the Coburg train between North Melbourne and Spencer Street Station. Two men, named A. Wilson and McDonald, were killed, and many were injured. These were removed to the Melbourne and other hospitals. The number injured, so far as is .mown, is 39, the most serious in juries being broken limbs. Many cs Mbpcd with shock and .bruises. The accident occurred where two .set; of rails cross. That the fatality war ,:-;t larger is due to the fact that the trains were travelling slowly. . The impact hurled the passengers in ah directions. Tile trains were heavily laden with passengers. The women were panic .t sicken, but were soon reassured. Two second-class cars on the Cdnrg train were smashed, and the debris scattered in ad directions. The first car of the Show train war partially telescoped. Those in the. undamaged cars quickly detrained and as /Lsbed in the rescue. A number of injured were pinned in the wreckage, and were difficult t extricate. Five men in ono of the Coburg cars were held fast in the debris in a standing position, and it was threequarters of an hour before the last was released.

With the assistance of the break gang, the injured who sufferings and groans were heartrending, were got out as quick! yas possible, and sent to the hospitals. The lino was cleared in an hour and a half.

Forty-eight were injured, and 21 still remain in the hospital. Of these, two are seriously injured, the others being mostly minor wounds. The cause has not been explained. It is stated that t'hfe Coburg train was running three minutes late. The crews of both trains apparently ?,ealised that a collision was inevitable, and put on tiro brakes in time to avert a more .serious accident. The majority of the passengers were women and children, and their screams and cries added to the bewilderment. There were many pitiable scenes, and the groans of the wounded pinned in the debris were (heartrending. The Coburg cars were of the old type, and splintered to matchwood. The passengers by this train were mostly workpeople returning to their homes.