arrow The Maryport Advertiser arrow 25 March, 1882 arrow Fatal Accident At Board School
Fatal Accident At Board School Print E-mail
The Maryport Advertiser - 25 March, 1882

 
FATAL ACCIDENT AT A BOARD SCHOOL.
 
 
    On Monday afternoon a disastrous  accident occurred at Pollockshields, near
Glasgow, by which four children were  killed and about twenty injured.
 
    The scene of the accident was  a  large school in connection with the
Govan School Board. There are over 800  pupils on the roll, and nearly that
number were in attendance on Monday. Between  twelve and one o'clock half the
children attending the school were in the  playground. They belonged to the junior
division, and were, therefore, all of  tender years.
 
    On one side of the ground there was a  large shed, about 90 ft. long,
under which some twenty children were running  about when, suddenly and without
the slightest warning, it collapsed, tearing  away the masonry at the back and
sides. The event created the greatest  excitement, and the school attendants
immediately hurried out and set about  rescuing the children. Most of them were
quickly released, but it was found that  George MILLS, aged twelve, Susan
SCOTT, aged nine, and Agnes TWENDALE, aged ten  had lost their lives. A fourth, a
young girl named Louisa DICKIE, aged nine,  died within a couple of hours.
The other injured children  were removed to their parents' homes in cabs, and
were immediately attended by  medical gentlemen in the district.
 
    The school is one of the finest in  Glasgow, and was erected three years
ago at some considerable expense, and  anything like structural weakness was
believed to be out of the question. An  examination of the shed, however, has
apparently disclosed the fact that the  catastrophe arose from defective
tieing. The roof was supported on five pillars  and further strengthened by five
beams stretching from the front to the back  wall, into which they were carried 3
1/2 inches. The weakness seems to have been  due to the back wall not having
been bolted or otherwise secured by metals. The  occurrence will be
investigated by the authorities.
 
 
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