As reported by: Wayne Cheah
Incident Date: 8:30 AM, Tuesday, 27 April 2021
Location: Jalan Perak, George Town, Penang
Earlier this morning, a gargantuan tree along a road collapsed towards a busy road. The tree plummeted right on top of an oncoming Proton Wira, crushing the driver of the vehicle.
As seen in the video below, citizens rushed to the scene in an attempt to recover the driver.
Emergency medical personnel were quick to the scene, however, the tree proved to be too massive and the Bomba was called to the scene in an attempt to cut the tree down into smaller portions in order to remove the driver from the vehicle.
In the aforementioned video, chainsaws can be heard as they attempted to work as quickly as possible to provide aid to the driver. It was reported that recovery works took over 5-6 hours.
Unfortunately, it was reported that the driver of the Proton Wira passed away on scene. The sole casualty is believed to be a male in his 50s.
It seems that due to the torrential weather that the country has been experiencing in the past few weeks, we’re seeing more and more reports of collapsing trees getting involved with motor vehicles.
However, this particular case was allegedly due to the accumulation of continuous road works around the area. As seen in the images, the roots of the tree are particularly short, prompting suggestions that the roots were cut during construction works, causing the tree to be unstable and more prone to tipping, especially during such weather.
Our condolences go out to the families affected by this unfortunate tragedy.
We’d like to urge our readers to stay safe on the roads and to always be aware and alert of your surroundings at all times. Stay safe out there.
See anything interesting? Send us video clips or images of it and get paid up to RM500! Visit www.lokalwav.com to find out more.