ALIVE IN WRECKAGE

Taranaki Daily News, 3 August 1935, Page 9

ALIVE IN WRECKAGE

ESCAPE SIMPLY AMAZING COUPLE IN CROSSING ACCIDENT. COMPARATIVELY LITTLE INJURED. MOTOR-VAN HURLED OFF THE LINE By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. Two people had a remarkable escape from serious injury when they Were involved in a level crossing accident on the north line this morning. They were Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Howie, of East .Vale farm, Kumeu. Though the van in which they were travelling was completely wrecked, Mr. Howie was able to stand up and look for his wife who, when found some distance away, was also not seriously hurl. The accident happened at a level crossing near the Taupaki station. When the 6.30 a.m. mixed train from Maungaturoto was just pulling out of the station the van was caught right on the lines. The injured couple were placed on the train and brought to hospital. Their condition is not serious.

The amazing thing about it, said the guard of the train, was that as soon as the train had stopped the man was on his feet looking for his wife. That was his chief Concern. She was nowhere to be seen and the wreckage itself was carried on to the cattle stops. “I would not have given much for it, it was matchwood,” the guard said. “Anway from the middle of it Mr. Howie extricated his wife. Of course, I do not know how seriously she was injured but the miracle of it was that she was not killed outright.” Mr. Howie was more seriously injured than it at first appeared. His escape was simply amazing. The van, which was loaded with crates of eggs, was earned only 12 feet by the engine before it was hurled with terrific force to the side of the line, where it crashed into a ditch near the cattle stops. The van was wrecked and thousands of eggs were strewn in a sticky mess.

The train stopped in less than its own length.