FOUR KILLED AND 25 INJURED, MANY BADLY, IN N.S.W. TRAIN SMASH

Wanganui Chronicle, 1 July 1948, Page 5

FOUR KILLED AND 25 INJURED, MANY BADLY, IN N.S.W. TRAIN SMASH

Recd. 6.10 p.m. Sydney, June 30 The deathroll in the accident to the south-west mail train is now four, with at least 25 injured, many seriously. The engine and following carriages crashed down a 25-foot embankment near Harden, 237 miles south of Sydney. The leading carriage immediately behind the engine was telescoped. All four killed and many of the injured were in this carriage, one end of which was completely torn away. Through the opening the occui pants were catapulted down the cmk bankment. Rescuers raced across 1 paddocks and waded creeks to reach k the scene, which ambulance men de- ■ scribed as shocking. A Ambulane officers emphasise the ■serious nature of the injuries in some ■cases, and say the deathroll may in- ■ crease. A dead woman has been idenI tilled, but the identities of three male ■ victims have not yet been traced. The ■ injuries include broken backs, arms ■ and legs and head injuries F The train, which left Sydney last I night, carried 123 passengers and mail in nine carriages and vans. The first carriage was caught between the en-t gine and two mail vans, which were also shattered. Another carriage was damaged, and one of the remaining five was derailed. The dr—- 'Mr. Ernest Nolan), who suffered severe abrasions and head injuries, said that one minute the train was running normally in the darkness, and the next he regained consciousness to find the fireman (Mr. Normal Jeffrey) digging him out from under the coals of the capsized engine. Mr. Jeffrey lit a hurricane lamp and, with the aid of a Sydney doctor who was a passenger in an undamaged carriage, set about extricating casualties and rendering first aid. Another passenger ran for help, and a resident drove a car int- Harden with the news. Ambulances raced to the scene, but after dawn the injured were still being located and released. Some remarkable escapes were recorded. One woman wit* » six-month-old baby was flung onto a rock at the bottom of the embankment without either receiving a scratch. Another woman with six children, was tranne,* for over an hour, but when released all were found uninjured. An official report says that where the accident occurred there was a light down grade, and that the cause yet unknown.