Soldier weeps at Unimog inquest

A soldier wept yesterday as he described how two comrades died when their Unimog truck plunged off a snow-covered road on Banks Peninsula and down a gully.

Three soldiers in the truck were thrown about like clothes in a washing machine, Christchurch coroner Richard McElrea was told.

Private Daniel Kairua, 22, who had swapped with another soldier for a place in the truck, died instantly from injuries suffered in the crash in August last year. Driver Sean Dougherty also died at the scene.

At an inquest into the deaths, the coroner was told Private Dougherty's injuries were survivable but, trapped in the wreckage, he suffocated and died despite desperate attempts by fellow soldiers to free him.

Sole survivor Martyn Berry was critically injured but recovered.

Staff Sergeant Tamaterangi Andrew, who had swapped vehicles with Private Kairua shortly before the crash, sobbed as he gave evidence.

He was leading the driver-training exercise when Private Dougherty's Unimog, the second in a convoy of five, slipped off Bossu Rd, a gravel stock route near Little River.

"I could see the Unimog in the gully a few hundred metres down," Staff Sergeant Andrew said in a statement, which had to be read for him because he was so upset.

"Private Kairua was on the ground lying on the side of the cab. I checked him. It was clear there was nothing I could do."

Private Dougherty, 29, had been calling out but when Staff Sergeant Andrew reached him he was unconscious, although he still had a pulse.

Staff Sergeant Andrew tried to free him from the wreckage with a wheel wrench.

"His legs appeared to be trapped. I don't think I could have got him out."

When Staff Sergeant Andrew checked again, there was no pulse.

Dr Martin Sage, who carried out autopsies on the dead men, said: "It's a bit like they've been put in a washing machine."

Private Dougherty's injuries were not life-threatening, he said. Basic first-aid could have saved him if he had not been trapped.

Lance Corporal Robert Pokaihau-Rogers, 25, driving the vehicle in front of Private Dougherty's, told the inquest he was nervous about the snow-covered, narrow road.

"I considered the road to be dangerous because, with the snow covering, I couldn't tell where the lip of the edge of the road was," he said.

A police investigation into the accident found no individual or organisation was to blame but the Banks Peninsula District Council, which is responsible for the upkeep of the road, and the Army both have counsel at the inquest.

Private Dougherty's sister, Kate Dougherty, represents the family.

Police Sergeant Daniel Harker, who investigated the accident, said the truck seemed to have "veered slowly towards the left shoulder of the road".

The soft shoulder of the road then "slumped", causing the Unimog to slip further.

Under cross-examination, Mr Harker said he did not believe the road giving way was the initial cause of the accident.

The inquest continues today.

- NZPA