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| | Encyclopedia: Mount Ruapehu (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06) |
 | | A lahar is a mixture of rock, mud, and water that flows down from a volcano (or occasionally other mountains), typically along a river valley. |
| | A lahar on December 24, 1953 caused the Tangiwai disaster, with the loss of 151 lives, when the Tangiwai railway bridge, across the Whangaehu river, collapsed just before an express train crossed the bridge while the lahar was in full flood. |
| | It was already known that the river had partially undermined one of the bridge piers and it is believed that the lahar finished the job, causing the bridge to collapse. |
| www.nationmaster.com /encyclopedia/Mount-Ruapehu (1764 words) |
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