From: Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 – 1954) Tuesday, 4 October 1927: Page 7

COINCIDENT DEATHS Father. and Son!
Remarkable Tragedy
MELBOURNE, Monday. Tragic circumstances distinguish an accident .which occurred at Bendigo early, this morning. A youth was killed and three other persons were injured. The steering gear of a car failed at a bend, and the vehicle dashed through the parapet of a bridge and plunged into a creek, twenty feet below.

Another man was injured while attempting to render assistance.The casualties were –
Killed. James Francis Drake (18), school teacher, of Bendigo.
Injured Mrs. Bridget Cahill, dislocated sholulder, severe abrasions, and shock.
Thomas William Drake (15), severe abrasions and shock.
Edward Patrick. Drake (20), head injuries, abrasions, and shock.
Andrew Ryan (57), butcher broken leg.

The party, comprising three brothers and their aunt, was proceeding to Axedale, after receiving a message that Mr. Edward Drake, father of the boys, had collapsed and was dying, He had been injured a week previously by falling on some stones while chasing a horse to drive to the funeral of a friend, and did not regain consciousness. Mrs. Cahill was driving the car. When she was about to turn from Baxter Street into McIvor Road, the steering gear failed.

The vehicle ran over the footway, and crashing through the railing, of the bridge, fell into the creek, coming to rest overturned across a cement. invert used for flood purposes. The occupants were immersed in about three feet of water.

Ryan, in attempting to reach the trapped people, jumped from the bridge, and broke his leg when he struck the creek bed. The noise of the crash attracted a crowd, and the occupants of the car were soon released. James Drake was then dead. It was thought that his head struck the concrete invert.

The other injured were conveyed to hospital. Mr. Drake, sen. died about the time of the accident. A double funeral of father and son will be conducted to-morrow.

*Please note:  Punctuation and paragraphs have been added to the above transcription for ease and speed of reading

“COINCIDENT DEATHS” Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 – 1954) 4 October 1927: 7 (DAILY). Web. 4 May 2021 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51442688&gt;.

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