Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Wednesday 5 April 1933, page 13


MR. ALBERT VOSS, j

Postponement of Funeral, j

CORONER'S STATEMENT. j

LONDON. Aoril 4. I

It is revealed that the Salford Coroner's

I decision to postpone the funeral of Mr, Albert

Voss, one of the victims of tho air disaster, was taken ofter Scotland Yard had com-municated with the Salford police In conse-quence of information received from Imperial Airways, Ltd.

i "The fire on the air liner, the coroner

stated, "broke out near where Mr. Voss sat, 1 and he must have flung himself from the aero-

plane immediately. The pilot must have then been unaware of the fire, or he would have immediately tried to land. The fingers of Mr. Voss's left hand were badly burned, but the right hand was only slightly burned. There is some question whether this ls con-sistent with the possibility that he held some inflammable or explosive material in his hands. There Is a suggestion that he com-mitted suicide, and tried to make his death look like an accident, sacrificing the air liner and all aboard. It is a terribie thought, especially as his own niece was one of the passengers. Mr. Voss was insured for £500 for the flight, besides holding other policies. Afr. Voss was undoubtedly financially embnrassed, and was wanted by the police for alleged embezzlement In Germany. He tried to commit suicide in October by taking a very large qunntity of aspirin."

It Is now questioned whether the school-girl victim of the disaster, hitherto described as a niece of Mr. Voss, is any relation to him. Her identity ls being investigated.

ORIGIN OF FIRE.

The aviation correspondent of the "Dally Telegraph" says: "The fire apparently started either in the lavatory, which was aft of the passengers' cabin, or In the luggage compart-ment, aft of the lavatory. Mr. Voss' clothes and body bore scarcely a trace of fire. His overcoat was rolled under his arm. He appears to have stepped out of the aeroplane volunI tartly. The closest examination failed to dis-

cover evidence of the fire originating in thc engines, and it could not have originated tn the petrol tanks."

THE SYDNEY VICTIMS.

The mourners at the funeral of Mr. Hugh Mcllrath and Miss Katherine Mcllrath, of Sydney, at Bakewell (Derbyshire), Included Mr. and Mrs. Brook-Taylor, Colonel and Mrs. E. M. Brook-Taylor, Misses Ailsa Grahame and J. Carruthers (Sydney), Mr. Herbert Watson, Mlhs G. Sharpe (mistress of the Chel-tenham Ladies' College). Wreaths were re-ceived from Slr John anti Lady Butters, Mrs. J. Armstrong, Mr. and Mrs. Harrisons Ramsay, Miss M. Salmon, and the staffs of Mcllrnth's and Harrisons Ramsay Pty., Ltd.

The Acting Agent-General (Mr. J. W. Ferguson) sent a wreath on behalf of New

South Wales.