Notes

A book about the devastation and destruction caused by the Tangiwai Rail Disaster which happened in New Zealand on December 24, 1953. It was the worst railway disaster in New Zealand’s history. It occured when the Wellington-Auckland night express plunged into the flooded Whangaehu River just west of Tangiwai, 8km west of Waiouru. The accident was caused by a sudden release of thousands of tons of water from the crater lake of Mt Ruapehu surging down the river in a massive wave. Of the 285 people on board, 151 were killed.