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FINE, FINE, CHANCE OFCHANCE OFSHOWERSSHOWERS

Established 1881 Thursday, March 4, 2010 $1.20 Freight extra

Slasher tragedy

A WOMAN, 42, died yesterday after a piece of pipe fl ung by a slasher hit her in the head. The freak accident happened in North Ward at 8am. The pipe ricocheted off the slasher with such force it travelled a further 50m, coming to rest outside the Red Rooster outlet.» EMILY MACDONALD Reports / page 4

PARENTS TO SUE OVER BULLYING

» Page 2

Woman killed in freak accident

Accident in Eyre Street,North Ward involving a tractor mowing a vacant block Photo: EVAN MORGAN

+ Page 4 Townsville Bulletin Thursday, March 4, 2010 townsvillebulletin.com.au

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Prank 000 callties up policeAYEAR7studentplayingapractical jokehadInnisfail policeracingaroundtheregionafterahoax000call.

Officerswereconcernedafteranemergencycall camethroughonTuesdayafternoonbut thecallerhungupbeforeprovidingdetails.Afterspendingasignificantamountof timetracingthecall, itwas found ithadbeenmadebyastudentontheschoolbusonthewayhome.Police saidparentsshould speak to theirchildrenabout thecorrectuseof 000andtheresponsibilitiesofhavingamobilephone.

No injuries inkitchen blazeTHEkitchenofaTullyhousewasdestroyedbya fireonTuesdaynight.

Policeandfire crewswerecalled to theCurtisSthouse shortlybefore8pm.

The53-year-oldresidentdidnot sufferany injuries.

Initial investigationsreveal the firemayhavebeencausedbyanelectrical fault and isbeing treatedasnon-suspicious.

Innisfail manfaces courtAMANhasbeenchargedwithgrievousbodilyharmfollowingan incident in Innisfailearlier thisyear.

InnisfailCIBofficershavealso charged the53-year-oldFlyingFishPointmanwithunlawfulwoundingfromoffenceswhichoccurred inCampbellStonJanuary31.Themanwill appear in theInnisfailMagistratesCourtonApril 12.

Mercy flightANanaemicwoman

wasairlifted fromMoranbahHospitalafterherconditiondeteriorated.The35-year-oldarrivedatMackayHospital at 1amyesterday inaseriousbut stable condition.

Death out of blueWoman killed by metal pipe flung from mower

FREAK ACCIDENT . . . the tractor and slasher have been seized for forensic investigation Photo: EVAN MORGAN

By EMILY MACDONALD

SCENE . . . the woman was walking to work when tragedy struck

A WOMAN walking to work

was killed instantly yester-

day when a 60cm piece of

steel pipe flung up by a

mower hit her in the head.

Witnesses labelled the

tragedy a ‘freak accident’.

The 42 year old was on a

footpath in front of property

consultants Collins and

Eales on Eyre St, North

Ward at 8.05amwhen a trac-

tor pulling a slasher on the

vacant block next door ran

over the pipe and sent it fly-

ing in her direction.

The pipe ricocheted off

the slasherwith such force it

travelled a further 50m after

inflicting the fatal injuries.

The male tractor driver,

48, was taken to hospital in

shock.

It was believed the victim

had a daughter who lived

out of town.

Anumber of staff fromsur-

rounding businesses wit-

nessed the woman’s death.

They and emergency services

were offered counselling.

Children at nearby Towns-

ville Central State School

were sent home with a note

offering support to anyone

traumatised by the incident.

Police Senior Sergeant

DarrenRandall said the for-

ensic crash unit and Work-

place Health and Safety

Queensland would investi-

gate the accident.

‘‘The incident occurred

across the road from the

state school. Contact has

been made with the princi-

pal and at this stage luckily

it seems no students were

witnesses,’’ he said.

‘‘Initial investigations

suggest it was an accident.

‘‘It’s a tragedy. She was in

the wrong place at the

wrong time. She just hap-

pened to be in the exact

trajectory of the pipe.’’

Sen-Sgt Randall said it

was believed the piece of

pipe may have been hidden

in the long grass being

slashed by the tractor, but

investigations would deter-

mine if it had detached from

the machinery.

The slasher and tractor

have been seized by police

for forensic investigation.

A witness from a nearby

business said he had just

driven around the corner

when he saw the woman

lying on the footpath.

‘‘The actual incident we

didn’t see, but we only came

about a minute after.

‘‘The lady from the real es-

tate called the police. The

mower guywas in shock, so I

sat him down in the shade.

‘‘It was a freak accident.’’

Business owner Geoff

Eales said his staff were

reeling after the tragedy.

‘‘The policewoman said it

was the worst thing she had

seen in 15 years,’’ he said.

‘‘At the end of the day

there is no other expla-

nation than that it was bad

luck.

‘‘It was a one-in-a-million

situation. If she had been

one second later, or one

second earlier, it wouldn’t

have happened.’’

Ray White Townsville

C i t y p r i n c i p a l B r a d

Matheson,whose business is

near the scene, said he be-

lieved the woman may have

been walking past the prop-

erty on the way to her work

in the citywhen theaccident

occurred.

He said one of his recept-

ionists heard a noise and

went outside to see what it

w a s . S h e w a s b e i n g

comforted yesterday.

‘‘It’s a terrible accident . . .a freak accident, ’ ’ MrMatheson said.

A parent told the Towns-ville Bulletin the school hadbeen supportive followingthe tragedy.

‘‘They sent a letter hometoday telling parents thattheydidn’t believeany child-ren had seen anything asidefrom the ambulances and

police cars,’’ she said. ‘‘The

letter said there was a fatal

incident and they didn’t be-

lieve any children had wit-

nessed it, but we should talk

to our kids and if wehad any

concerns to let them know if

we needed additional sup-

port.

‘‘We were all hoping it

wasn’t a child or a parent

from the school.’’

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