THREE KILLED IN CRASH
WANDSWORTH COMMON TRAGEDY
HEAD-ON COLLISION AT MIDNIGHT
INQUEST OPENED
Three people lost their lives and four other persons were injured as the result of a terrible road smash at Wandsworth Common late on Friday night. The tragedy occurred when a No. 67 'bus bound for Clapham was involved in a head-on collision with a private motor-car at the junction of Nightingale-lane and Bolingbroke-grove.
The three persons killed were passengers in the motor-car. They were:
Carlo Ernesto Quaglia (aged 27), Dora-road, Wimbledon, driver of the car;
John Porch (aged 38), Caxton-rd., Wimbledon; and his wife, ....
M"' 'GIIst Porch (aged 35). 3
The injured persons, who were all travelling in the 'hus, were: - Albert Wix (aged 40), conductor of the 'bus, Brayards-road, Peckham (facial injuries);
Miss Violet Parry (aged 35), Roseneath-road, Battersea (cut over right eye)
Miss Eva Billingsley (aged 30), Morat-street, Brixton (injuries to both legs);
Mrs. L. Booker (aged 25), The Horns, Kennington (shock).
All four were able to go to their homes after receiving treatment at St. James's Hospital.
A NIGHTMARE SCENE.
The collision occurred shortly after eleven o'clock, and the impact was so violent that the crash could be heard for hundreds of yards. People came running to the scene from neighbouring houses, and passing motorists stopped to render assistance to the victims, It was obvious, however, that the occupants of the car were beyond aid.
The scene was a terrible one. The car and 'bus were locked together, the lighter vehicle a complete wreck, with the radiator forced Ka«-k on to the engine, The driver's cabin of the 'bus was badly damaged, and the roadway for a considerable distance around was strewn with shattered glass, mingled with water and petrol running from the vehicles.
Mr. Quaglia, it seemed, had been thrown through the windscreen of the car and was lying with his head beneath the bonnet of the 'bus, while Mr. and Mrs. Porch were huddled inside the wrecked vehicle, and it was only with difficulty they could be extricated.
DRIVER'S ESCAPE.
The driver of the 'bus, Mr. John Seales, Ruby-street, Old Kent Road, fortunately escaped uninjured despite the fact that his cabin was wrecked.
A pet dog which was with Mrs. Porch in the back of the car was thrown into the road and badly injured. The animal was put out of its misery by a passing veterinary surgeon.
The car was the property of Miss Aitchison, Manor-way, Beckenham.
INQUEST OPENED.
When the inquest on the three victims of the tragedy was opened at Battersea on Tuesday, Mr. George Burley Elmes, a commercial clerk, Caxton-road, Wimbledon, told Dr. Edwin Smith (the Coroner) that he had identified the body of the woman as that of his sister, Mrs. Gladys Porch. One of the men was her husband, John Porch, a clerk employed by a firm of motor-car manufacturers. They lived at 27 Caxton-road, Wimbledon.
Mr. Elmes said he last saw his sister alive on the day of the accident, a few hours before it occurred, and he saw her husband on the previous night. He had been told that Mr. Quaglia called with the car for his sister and brother-in-law. He did not know where they were going.
Witness added: I can only suggest that the car was drawn by Mr. Quaglia. That was his job as a service manager.
The Coroner: We need not go into that now.
Mr. Elmes said he first heard of the crash early on Saturday morning.
On the suggestion of the Coroner, Mr. Elmes also gave evidence of identification in respect to Mr. Quaglia, whom he said he knew, to save his widow the ordeal of going into the witness-box. He said Mr. Quaglia was a motor service manager.
At this stage the Coroner adjourned the inquiry. He said several people were injured in the crash, and it was to be hoped that some or all of them would be able to attend the resumed hearing, which would be on Wednesday next week.
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