[The following is in regards to The Forest Hills disaster, a railroad bridge accident that occurred on March 14, 1887, in the Roslindale section of Boston, Massachusetts.]
J. H. Lennon, a fish dealer from Forest Hills, thought that he was the first man on the scene with an axe: “I went to one car from which I heard cries and moans. Here I found several passengers pinned in the debris. One poor woman was pinned down by a seat, with the body of a man across her.” Later, Lennon was distressed to discover that a man was alive at the bottom of a pile of three dead bodies. Although his rescuers worked as quickly as possible, the man died soon after being extricated from the wreckage.
According to the Boston Post:
One of the first bodies reached was that of a woman who was pinned down in the car, with the face jammed down between two sills, and in a most shocking condition. That she was alive seemed doubtful; still, the body was moved, when, to the horror of her rescuers, it was found that the head and one arm were severed from the body as though done by a knife.
Source:
Pletcher, Larry. “The Collapse of Bussey Bridge.” Massachusetts Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. Insiders Guide, 2006. 73. Print.
Further Reading:
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