CLIFF TRAGEDY

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20718, 31 January 1939, Page 8

CLIFF TRAGEDY

THREE MEN KILLED MARAENUI CAR ACCIDENT DRIVER TELLS HIS STORY (Special to Times) OPOTIKI, Monday The inquest Into the death of three Public Works Department employees, Edward George Ashley, Charles Norden and Thomas Hughes, who were killed in a motor accident at the Maraenui Hill, about 25 miles from Opotiki, on December 22, was concluded before the district coroner, Mr F. J. Short. A verdict that the deceased died as the result of head injuries received through a car in which they were passengers going over a bank was returned. The coroner added that he was satisfied that the fatalities were purely accidental. Sergeant J. Isbister stated that on the night of December 22 he went to the Maraenui Hill with Dr. H. J. Mail. A car had gone over cliffs about 500 ft. high and was lying about 300 ft. down the cliff. Bodies Down Cliff About 100 ft. down they found Norden dead in the scrub. Another 50ft. further down they came upon the body of Ashley and about 100 ft. further the body of Hughes. The car was jammed against a tree and was wrecked. The road where the accident occurred was 17ft. wide. The tracks of the car were clearly defined for a distance of 60ft. before it went over the bank, the marks got nearer the edge until the right-hand wheels went over at a place where the road had broken away. The car did not go over there, however. The driver had succeeded in getting it back,on the road and it ran along, the. edge of the cliff for 14 yards before finally going over. Ran Along the Edge The driver of the car, Edward George Hitchener, Public Works Department employee, said he was driving Hughes' car, as the latter had poor eyesight. Hughes and Norden were with him in the front seat and Ashley was in the dickey seat. They were travelling at about 25 miles an hour when the car started to pull to the right. He tried to pull it back, but after running along the edge of the cliff it toppled over. He remembered the car turning over once and when he came to he was lying alongside, the vehicle some hundreds of feet below the road. Witness heard Norden calling out and he made his way up the cliff to get him. When he had got some way up he found Hughes. Witness thought he was conscious. He continued up some distance and found Norden with a log over his feet. He was conscious and asked if witness could get him out. Witness eased the log and Norden said he felt better. Theory as to Cause He saw Ashley lying on one side among the fern, but he did not go to him, but made his way to the top of the cliff. Witness walked downhill a short distance and met a lorry driver named Dobbs. Witness then returned to the scene of the accident with Dobbs and remembered trying to go down the cliff. He did not remember anything after that. His injuries consisted olbroken ribs, a fractured left wrist and right ankle and severe bruising to face and body. After thinking the matter over he was of the opinion that what caused the car to pull to the right at that point was perhaps a right-hand tyre getting punctured and suddenly deflating. As far as ho could remember he was not blinded by the sun. He had a driver’s license and the car had a certificate of- fitness.