Sunday, July 6, 2014

SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: George Osborne's Oxford chum in wedding rail horror Read more:

For George Osborne’s Oxford University chum Jason Gissing, it was the most joyful of occasions. 


Jason Gissing, co-founder of online grocer Ocado, broke an arm and a leg when a tram he was travelling on was hit by a freight train

Jason Gissing, co-founder of online grocer Ocado, broke an arm and a leg when a tram he was travelling on was hit by a freight train
The 43-year-old co-founder of online grocer Ocado was looking forward to being best man at the nuptials of Australian businessman Peter Holmes à Court.
The wedding party had boarded a picturesque tourist tram to the venue of the ceremony in Zimbabwe — when tragedy struck. Their tram was hit head-on by a freight train.
‘It is the most appalling disaster,’ says an associate of Gissing, who was a member of the Bullingdon Club with the Chancellor during their Oxford days.
‘Jason broke an arm and a leg. It’s very traumatic, but at least he is alive. He is being cared for by Professor Ken Boffard, who is one of the best trauma surgeons in the world.’
Other members of the 32-strong wedding party were not so lucky. There is understood to have been at least one guest killed in the accident, which happened last week at Victoria Falls, near the beauty spot on the border with Zambia. Eighteen others were injured, including a child.
Zimbabwe’s railways are notoriously dangerous, with ageing despot Robert Mugabe having brought the country’s economy to its knees and unable to pay for improvements. The accident is the third involving National Railways of Zimbabwe in the space of a week.
 

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