Christopher Toms, John Reordan, Michael Laver, Gregory Rodda & John MartinPrint Page

FIVE KILLED AT LEVEL CROSSING

Five youths were killed shortly before 6 p.m. last Monday when their car crashed into a passenger train at a level crossing on the outskirts of Middleton. The car struck the Adelaide-bound train and was then crushed against steel stanchions, killing instantly the five youths.

The boys had been surfing and were returning to Adelaide in a southerly direction via Middleton. It is believed the setting sun blinded the occupants and prevented them from seeing the approaching train. A Middleton farmer, Mr. Hedley Abbott, said on Tuesday that the sun is particularly blinding along the road late in the afternoon. He said : 'The train emerges from a clump of trees near the crossing and is then partly hidden from view by the silhouette of the old Middleton mill in the background.'

A St. John Ambulance was called to the accident from Victor Harbour and police at the scene praised the excellent job done by the crew and other St. John members. In the difficult task of extracting the bodies of the victims from the wrecked car, the St. John personnel used special equipment carried in their ambulance. It was more than an hour and a half before the last body was recovered. It is believed all deaths were caused by the steel stanchions of the obsolete cattle pits beside the railway line.

In Parliament this week the Minister of Transport (Mr. Kneebone) said the car had run into the side of the train which had just left the Middleton station and was not travelling fast. In the Assembly Tuesday, Mr. Quirke (L.C.P.) condemned the heavy steel rails at railway crossings, which he described as 'death traps'. There are 32 railway cross-ings between Victor Harbour and the old native canoe tree at Currency Creek. Goolwa. Port Elliot and Victor Harbour police are preparing a report for the coroner. Mr. H. J. Graham. An inquest will be held on a date to be fixed.
[ Victor Harbour Times, Friday 14 October 1966 ]