Authorities of Belgium On Friday, the 22nd reported that a woman died and two people were injured due to the fall of a large aircraft Christmas tree in the town of Oudenaarde. The accident apparently occurred due to a storm that also hit the city United Kingdom and that Netherlands.
Surveillance camera images published by Belgian media and shared on social media this Friday show a pine tree 20 meters highdecorated with lights Christmaswhich slowly tipped over and collapsed in a square next to a market on the night of Thursday 21st.
Kerstboom valt omver in Oudenaarde. He valt 1 dodelijk slachtoffer. A climate atdode. ☝️ Vroeger waaide het. pic.twitter.com/9RRdB1V97r
— Koen Godderis (@koengodderis) December 22, 2023
Investigation
A spokesman for the OostVlaanderen provincial prosecutor's office said the victim was a 63yearold woman from Oudenaarde. Two women from the same city sustained minor injuries in the incident.
“The investigation will focus on whether the tree was properly protected and also examine the impact of the weather,” he said.
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According to local media, there had previously been problems with the stability of the Christmas tree, which was crooked and had to be repaired by authorities, but officials ruled out a problem with law enforcement oversight.
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“The tree was solid. But unexpectedly there was very heavy rain and a wind gust of force 6,” Oudenaarde mayor Marnic De Meulemeester told Belgian broadcaster VRT News, citing gusts of more than 40 km/h. “As a result, the tree was felled near a Christmas market where many people were present.”
He added that the city decided to completely close the Christmas market and winter village “out of respect for the family” of the victim.
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Storm
Storm Pia, which caused road disruptions in the UK and the Netherlands on Thursday, also hit western Belgium, where the weather service issued a code yellow warning for coastal areas urging the population to be “cautious”. Respect for climatic events.
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The storm also caused one death in the Netherlands. Health organization ZoZijn said a woman was injured by a falling tree on Thursday but died from her injuries on Friday.