• Germany edition
Photo: DPA

Chestnut tree kills pedestrian

Published: 20 Nov 09 08:06 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091120-23399.html

A 47-year-old Frankfurt woman died late on Thursday after a chestnut tree suddenly fell and crushed her, police reported.

The woman was walking along a sidewalk in the city's central Westend district when the 11-metre high tree fell, taking her down with it. Bypassers were able to pull the woman from beneath the tree before rescue workers arrived, but she died later at a local hospital, police said.

The tree also took down a lamppost and damaged a gas line as it fell. Fire department workers plugged the leak and closed the street for clean up. Police also reported that an eyewitness suffered from shock.

Authorities are unclear what caused the tree to fall. It was on a piece of private land and not known to be rotten, the fire department said. There was also no wind when the tree broke from its trunk, a city spokesperson said.

Criminal police are investigating the incident.

DPA/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

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01:49 November 22, 2009 by themayor
I have seen the tree many times over many years. It stood in the garden of a popular steak house. Until 2006 the garden was overgrown with weeds and dense shrubbery. It was infested with rodents and rats which could feed and thrive off the restaurant scraps. I believe the ground had so many tunnels from the rodents that the tree roots had lost support.

I think the story is very newsworthy and hope to see a follow up report on the investigation.
08:46 November 22, 2009 by Edmond Schindler
Thankfully there were no children lost in this freak accident. If you're gonna go, quick and from natural causes is the best you can hope for...

Maybe the Chestnut Tree got confused when it dropped it's whole load and hammered the poor woman when all it wanted was to drop it's nuts.
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