BUSH WORKERS INJURED

Taranaki Daily News, 30 January 1931, Page 9

BUSH WORKERS INJURED

STRUCK BY FALLING TREE TWO MEN PINNED TO THE GROUND MAORI DIES GF SKULL FRACTURE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. T’anranga, Last Night. A most unusual bush accident occurred at one o’clock to-day at Whakamarama, near here, resulting in the death of a native named Buff Apaapa, aged 49. He was married, with twelve children. Percy Skelton suffered a broken thigh and internal injuries and was conveyed to Tauranga Hospital. The full extent of his injuries is not “yet known. Herbert Baker sustained injuries to the back, which are not serious. AU three men. were employed by the Whakamarama Land and Timber Company and were engaged in the bush hauling logs. They had just finished lunch and were leaving the tender of the locomotive where they had lunched when a rata tree snapped about 40 feet up and the top, about 20 feet long, fell on-three men, pinning Apaapa and Skelton down. Baker, although hit, got clear, and a fourth man, Allsln Shatplin, jumped clear. Sharplin sounded the alarm on the hauler whistle, and with assistance got the two men clear. Apaapa was then unconscious and died on a jigger on the way to the mill settlement, eight miles away. Dr. Stuart was summoned. Later the doctor gave evidence at the inquest that Apaapa’s death was due to a fracture of the base of the skull. A verdict was given accordingly.