FOUR DEAD, ONE INJURED, WHEN TRAIN HITS LORRY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17781, 26 February 1926, Page 1

FOUR DEAD, ONE INJURED, WHEN TRAIN HITS LORRY.

CHILD ALONE SURVIVES OF TWO FAMILIES. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, February 26. Four people were killed and a child was injured in a dreadful railway crossing smash two miles north of Paekakariki last evening. * Dead. WILLIAM ERNEST FORDIIAM carrier, 34, of W ellington. RUBIA VICTORIA FORDHAM, his wife, 34. WILLIAM WALLIS, 31, of Welling, ton. FLORENCE W r ALLIS, his wife, 27. Injured. ESTHER W r ALLIS, shock and abrasions. The condition of the child is not serious. , The two families are believed to be related. Fordham was taking a load cf furniture on a lorry to Te Horo and the others were making the trip as passengers.

The lorry was at M’Kay’s crossing when it was struck by a train from Palmerston North which was due in Wellington at 7.13 p.mThe Railway Department states that the crossing is not dangerous, being a right-angled approach, and the drivers of vehicles having a ‘clear view of the line for 300 yards on either side. Just before the rails are reached from the Wellington side, however, there is a slight upward rise, necessitating an increase in speed. The train was travelling at about twenty-five miles an hour when it hit the lorry full and square, smashing it to pieces. 6

The three occupants were killed instantly and the fourth died on the train before Paekakariki was reached. Valuable work was done in this case by a medical student, Mr J. Harding, who was travelling on the train, which stopped about 200 yards from the crossing. As portions of the lorry had got jammed into the front of the locomotive it took half an hour to clear the wreckage so that the train could proceed.

The damage to the locomotive was so serious that it had to be taken off when the train reached Paekakariki. Relief trains were sent from Johnsonville and Paekakarikj on receipt of the news of the accident, but. fortunately they were not required.

Dr Cameron met the train at Paekakariki, only to find that one of the women, who was still alive when placed on the stretcher in the guard’s van at the scene of the accident, was dead. . The other three bodies were brought along in the van. The little girl was brought to town by Mr Harding, the medical student, and sent to hospital. Two lady passengers gave great aid to the injured gii^l. Misfortune still dogged the train, as on reaching Johnsonville a further delay occurred through the line being blocked by a slight mishaj) to another train at Khandallah. The passengers in the Palmerston North train were brought to Thorndon by another train, arriving two hours late.

A resident of the district where the accident occurred states that the crossing, in his opinion, is fairly dangerous. It was true that the actual crossing is made at right angles, and that there was a cleat* view of, an oncoming train for 300 yards, but there was a bend and a hill, a short distance away, which was apt to claim a motorist’s whole attention, especially if he had a full load and wished to take the hill on one gear. The resident considers that the driver in this case accelerated his engine to take the rise, and the train was upon him before he had time to halt.

Residents of Paekakariki state that two of the passengers were seated on top of the lorry load when passing through the township. The furniture was scattered on both sides of the railway track from the crossing to -the point where the engme was brought to a standstill. rordham and his wife had just returned from a visit to the Exhibition.