mostly
14(A)
50
S
about 8 max★y Women. The pressure at the back had
become worse and I was forced to return to the ramp to
ease the flow of passengers who were greatly hindered
from leaving the ship by passengers trying to get on to
the ship again. About this time I saw Fire Brigade
Officers Tiplady doing his best at the top of the ramp.
I looked back into the water and saw that two kavenue
Officers pulling the two remaining passengers to safety.
After about 5 minutes the flow of passengers showed
down and I was able to return to the wharf and afterwards
generally supervised rescue work on the wharf in general.
Sub-Inspector Jones of the emergency unit had gone to
the forward exit and with the aid of his men was pulling
passengers out of the water. I then boarded the ship and
found some thirty passengers sorting out baggage. I
gathered 2 or 3 men together and removed most of them from
the ship. Sever were still left on board as they appeared
to be suffering from shock. As I know the wharf was already
Afterwards
overcrowded I arranged for it to be cleared.
visited
↑ XÌxix★æ the scene of the fire and found a bag of combs
still smouldering which were removed by the Fire Brigade.
During our search, should goods be found which are con-
sidered as dangerous we should prevent them going on
board. After the smoke had cleared some passengers aid
in fact remove their baggage from the vessel.
During
the stampede some passengers did in fact struggle back
on board.
The foregoing is a true
record of the evidence I have given.
Sd. A G. Groves.
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