The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-12 00:00:00

FEARFUL ACCIDENT AT THE BIR-
MINGHAM RAILWAY S7ATION.

THREE MEN KILLED.

Yesterday morning, shortly after nine o'clock, a
fearful accident, which resulted in the instanta-
neous death of three men, and severe if not fatal in-
juries to two others, occurred at the London and
North-Western Railway Station, New-street, Bir-
mingham. The corrugated iron roof of the station
inside and the iron girders and rods which support
the roof are being fresh painted, the painting con-
tract having been undertaken by Mr. Wood, of
Leeds. Close to the roof scaffolding had been fixed;
this being a separate contract by a builder named
Holmes, of Birmingham. This scaffold was at a
height of about 50 feet from the level of the rails
beneath. The spot where the scaffolding gave way
was, fortunately, immediately over a siding; had
it occurred on the opposite side of the station the
timbers must have fallen on to the Midland plat-
form, where a number of passengers were congre-
gated. At the time the accident
breakfast,
dtndhe
workmen had just returned from a
themaff old,
ahadand
ascended the ladder which led
all six imprudently ventured together upon the
were preparing to resume wodrkt.o
' were at work: Five of them had
Sthixe scaffold,
reached the
centre of the plank, when, owing
to the extra
same plank, which led to the spot where they
weight, the plank suddenly broke, and precipi-
tated five of the unfortunate men to the ground,
carrying with it at the same time about twenty or
thirty other planks. The sixth man saved himself
by clinging to one of the girder rods. The crash of
the falling beams, and the cries for help by the
other workmen created such an alarm amongst the
passengers at the station, that it was at first ima-
gined the roof itself had given way. Mr. Wyatt,
the station superintendent, who was upon one of
the platforms, immediately proceeded to the spot,
and under his direction the injured men were placed
in cabs and removed to the general hogpital. Three
of them
named James Earle, of York; John Macloe,
and John
Moran, were so shockingly mutilated that
they died before they arrived there. The other
two,;Nicholas Hughes, of Essington, and James
Roberts, of Bradford, are lying in a very precarious
state. Hughes has fractured ribs, and severe inter-
nal injuries, and Roberts severe injury to the spine.
The latter wu expected
rre up to
on live
th e dhunrei no gf
railway,
ahiel
wd aayy.
It was rumoured throughout the town that a seri-
ous accident was
not
o d ec
and large numbers of persons visited the station 'to
ascertain the facts. There is no doubt that the
accidentmany men venturing
uponthe arose
plank at once. After the accident the
through too
other workmen refused to ascend the scaffold until
it had been officially inspected, and certified to be
safe.
It
tisexpected that the inquest will'be held
this (Friday) morning.

ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
BIRMINGHAM, THURSDAY.
. _

while a number of
roof of 0 f
way, th
workmen
(Thursday)
wereh u r s d
engageda y )
painting the
e
central railway station, the scaffolding
precipitating five men to the ground, a distance of
50 feet. morning,
Four, named Macclae, Moran, Carroll, and
Hughes, were killed on the spot; the other, Roberts,
was fatally injured.