Twenty-one railway workers and support staff were killed when a flash flood occurred on the Kōpuawhara Stream, near Māhia, in February 1938. The workers were building the Wairoa–Gisborne railway line and lived at a campsite above the stream. Torrential rainfall sent a 5-metre wall of water rushing down the stream, which burst its banks and swept away the campsite. This is the scene the next day.
Using this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, C. A. Jeffery Collection
Reference:
1/2-60159; F
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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