Tangiwai means ‘weeping waters’, and the name seemed sadly apt on Christmas Eve 1953, when a lahar (volcanic mud flow) partly destroyed the railway bridge over the Tangiwai River. The Wellington–Auckland passenger express plunged into the river, killing 151 people, in New Zealand’s worst rail disaster.
Listen to a Roadside Story about the Tangiwai disaster. Roadside Stories is a series of audio guides to places around New Zealand.
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YouTube: Manatu Taonga's channel
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