Tree falls on house, elderly couple hurt

Tribune News Service

Advertisement

Chandigarh, June 26

An elderly couple was injured after a big mango tree fell on their house in Sector 15 this afternoon.

Sunita Devi (60) had remained stuck under the uprooted tree for about two hours before she was rescued. She got stitches on her head and leg. Kamal Kishore (62) also got stitches on his head. The old couple, who retired from government service, was admitted to the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, and was later sent home.

According to their son Piyush Garg, the incident happened around 3:30 pm during a storm. “My mother got up to shut the window when the tree fell on our house. The house wall got broken and the window got dislodged hitting my father on the head. The tree fell on my mother,” he told Chandigarh Tribune.

“My mother had remained stuck under the tree for two hours. People tried to move the huge tree, but in vain. We called up horticulture and fire officials. They reached in half an hour. They, too, initially could not remove the tree as they did not have tools required for the job. Later, the other part of the wall was broken and my mother could be rescued,” shared Piyush.

He said an air-conditioner, bed, wall and a window were damaged in the accident. “We had sent a complaint to the UT Administration in 2017 through an email. They had forwarded it to the horticulture wing. The staff came and pruned the other tree, not this one. Thereafter, we and our neighbours complained many times, but in vain,” he said.

A woman in their neighbourhood said: “The tree was shaking for the past many days. But the authorities did not do the needful. That is why the incident has happened.”