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Escaping Gas Kills Three
Men At B.H.P. Works
SYDNEY, June 27: Three men were killed by
escaping gas while worlinq today at the Newcastle
steelworks of the Broken Hill Pty. Lt4. Another man
was electrocuted while at work at Villawood. an outer
suburb of Sydney.
The three men who lost their
lives at the B.H.P. steelworks
were trapped in the boiler cham
ber while cleaning water pipes in
the boilers. They were: George
Sewell (57), of Mahibah; John
Fairhall (54), of Junction; and
Jakob Prychocki, of the May
field migrant camp.
The gas penetrated the cham
ber unnoticed and the men
were overcome before other
workmen could reach them.
Sewell and Prychocki were
near the small doorway of
the boiler chamber when they
were overcome and died al
most instantly. Fairhall was
working' on a raised platform
when he was overcome. He
was not dead when taken from
the chamber, but was dead
when doctors examined him at
the Royal Newcastle Hospital
later.
The gas, which originated
from the blast furnaces a short
distance from the boiler area,
escaped when a sudden high
pressure raised a water seal.
Norman Lawrence Harris,
who was watching the water
seal for any signs of a possible
escape of gas, saw it lift and
rushed to the boiler chamber
and shouted a .warning to the
three men. He told them to get
out as quickly as -possible and
ran to inform a foreman of
the danger.
When he returned with others
some minutes later, Sewell and
Prychocki. were lying close to
the door of the chamber.: ei
dently having collapsed there
while trying to escape. Fairhall
was unconscious on the plat
form.
The fourth man killed today.
Ken Barnett. of Camperdown.
was operating an electric drill
at the postal workshop at Villa
wood when he received a shock
and collansed.
He was rushed to the Parra
matta District Hosoital and
placed in an iron lung. but
efforts to revive nim failed.
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