THREE KILLED.
MOTHER AND CHILDREN.
TRAGIC MOTOR SMASH.
CAR PLUNGES OVER BANK.
THREE OTHERS ESCAPE ALIVE.
LAD SERIOUSLY INJURED.
(By Telegraph — Press Association.) BLENHEIM, this day. Three people were killed about eleven o'clock last night, on the Blenheim Nelson Road, when the car in which they were driving plunged 30ft down a bank into 15ft of water. Their names are: —
Mrs. Jessie Hickey, of Nelson.
Lily Hickey, aged 10 years.
Maurice Hickey, aged three years.
The accident occurred near Ruapeka, about four miles on the Nelson side of Havelock, at a spot where several accidents have happened in recent years.
The car was driven by Mr. James Hickey, who was accompanied by his wife, daughter and son, and by a lad named Marvin Stewart, aged 13, and a man named Bernard West. All belonged to Nelson, and they had been visiting Blenheim for the week-end.
Just after passing a car driven by Mrs. H. White, Mr. Hickey's car plunged down a bank. Mrs. White did not notice what had happened, but Mr. Charlie Maule, Rai valley, who was motoring immediately behind Mr. Hickev saw the accident and rendered assistance at once.
All but Mrs. Hickey and her son and daughter managed to get free of the car.
The lad Stewart was sent to hospital with injured shoulders and severe shock.
The bodies of Mrs. Hickey and Lily Hickey were recovered from the submerged car at eight o'clock this morning, and Maurice Hickey's body was found three hours later. The indications are all were dead before the ear struck the water. The little boy's skull was fractured, the girl's neck was broken, and the mother had serious injuries to her head. -Auckland Star, 27/2/1928.
DETAILS OF THE MOTOR TRAGEDY.
PLUCKY ATTEMPTS MADE AT RESCUE.
(Special to the “Star.") BLENHEIM. Eebruary 27.
Fuller details of the motor accident which resulted in the deaths of Mrs James Hickey, aged twenty-eight years, of Nelson, Lily Hickey, aged ten years, her daughter, and Maurice Hickey, aged three years, her son, show that on Saturday afternoon Mr James Hickey, of Nelson, accompanied by his wife and two children, the lad Stewart and a friend, Mr Bernard West, arrived in Blenheim on a visit, to Mr Hickey’s mother, who resides in Weld Street. They set out on their return journey late on Sunday afternoon, having tea at the Masonic Hotel, Havelock, and spending a happy hour or two with friends there. They left on the last stages of their journey at about 10.30 p.m. They were travelling in a fiveseater touring car, with the hood up, Mrs Hickey and the children in the rear seat, while Mr West occupied the front seat alongside the driver.
After crossing the newly-erected Ruapeka Bridge, some four miles from Havelock, the car was rounding a narrow and extremely dangerous bend on the side of the hill when another car, driven by Mrs H. H. White, of Havelock, was seen approaching. Just what happened has not yet been made clear, but, after passing Mrs White’s car, the ill-fated vehicle took a sudden lurch to the right and plunged over the bank, turning a complete somersault and landing with a crash on the bank some twenty feet below, whence it rolled into a pool of water, fifteen feet in depth, where it was completely submerged.
Mr Hickey, Mr West and the lad Stewart, though dazed and somewhat badly knocked about, succeeded in scrambling to safety, but, though assistance was at once forthcoming, no trace could be found of the other members of the party, and their bodies were not recovered until this morning. A hurried post mortem showed that Mrs Hickey had sustained such serious head injuries that she was at least unconscious, if not dead, before the car struck the water, while the little girl had sustained a broken neck and her baby brother a fracture of the base of the skull.
There is no doubt, in the case of the children, that they were killed instantaneously when the car leaped from the road and before it entered the water.
The first arrival on the scene of the accident was Mr C. A. Maule, of Rai Valley, who, accompanied by Mr W. Turner, also of Rai Valley, was returning home after enjoying a day’s fishing in Pelorus Sound. They passed Mrs White’s car just on the Havelock side of the Ruapeka Bridge, and, on reaching the next bend, heard cries for help. After Messrs Maule and Turner had done all that was possible and had trained their car lights on the wrecked car to assist in the search for the missing members of the party, Mr J. Wratt, of Rai Valley, arrived. Mr Maule then left Mr Wratt on the scene and proceeded to Mr Forrest’s house nearby to summon assistance.
Within half an hour there was a general rally of settlers and Havelock people, and, though it was raining and bitterly cold, strenuous efforts at rescue were kept up until a late hour, Messrs J. Wells and S. Buckman, of Havelock, diving repeatedly in the cold water, but without avail.
Finally search had to be abandoned until daylight, when it was resumed by a large party. The bodies of Mrs Hickey and the little girl were recovered from the back of the car at about 8 a.m., and the body of the little boy was found in the pool a couple of hours later, after the car had been hauled back on to the road.
The late Mrs Hickey, who, prior to her marriage, was Miss Jessie Stewart, was a member of a well-known Nelson family. Mr Hickey is a native of Blenheim and is well known in all parts of the district. For some years he has resided in Nelson, where he is employed by Messrs Cooksey and Co.
The place where the tragedy occurred has been the scene of four or five serious accidents, the most recent being a mishap suffered by Sister Dundou, of Havelock, some fifteen months ago. Her car left the road and plunged into the water, and she had a very narrow escape from drowning. After that accident, the County Council caused a heavy railing to be erected with a view to making the road safer, but for some reason or other it was not carried as far as it might have been.
An inquest on the victims was opened at Havelock this afternoon and adjourned after evidence of identification had been taken. -Star, 28/2/1928.
Wakapuaka Cemetery, Nelson.
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