Man dies after tree falls on him

A 38-year-old man died after a tree fell on him at Dadar in central Mumbai, a fire brigade official said today.

The incident took place yesterday afternoon when the victim, Dinesh Sangle, was passing by Mumbai Marathi Granth Sangrahalay Road, the official said.

"A Gulmohar tree from an adjacent housing society cracked at its trunk and fell on Sangle while he was walking. He received grievous head injuries and was rushed to the nearby KEM Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival," the official said.

The post-mortem report said he succumbed to the head injuries.

An official of the F-South ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the tree belonged to a private society and it needed an urgent maintenance and trimming.

"Our men had asked the society to trim the tree, but they failed to do so. Further investigation into the matter is on," he said.

Similar incidents had claimed several lives in the city last year.

In December, Sharda Ghodeswar, a mother of three, had died after a 45-ft tree fell on her near Diamond Garden in Chembur.

Five months before that incident, a former Doordarshan anchor Kanchan Nath (58) had died when a coconut tree fell on her while she was taking a morning walk near a road close to her housing society in Chembur.

In June, a 14-year-old boy lost his life in Colaba's Navy Nagar after a tree fell on him.