A tragedy was averted when an umpire’s presence of mind saved passersby and commoners from getting hurt from a sudden fall of a tree near Brabourne Stadium
A tragedy was averted on Wednesday, when an umpire’s presence of mind saved passersby and commoners from getting hurt from a sudden fall of a tree near Brabourne Stadium. A huge gulmohar tree, which was around 15-20 years old, got uprooted and fell on Dinshaw Vachha Road in Churchgate.
A huge gulmohar tree, which was around 15-20 years old, collapsed and fell on Dinshaw Vachha Road in Churchgate. Pic/Bipin Kokate
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The incident took place around 4.30 pm, when Marcus Couto, a cricket umpire, was walking towards a departmental store near the stadium’s gate number three — that leads to C K Naidu Hall. While walking, Couto saw cracks on the paver blocks on the walkway and he noticed that they were being pulled up. He then realised that the gulmohar tree, which was getting uprooted, was causing this.
“I immediately alerted people around me and called out to the people in the cars parked nearby. Initially, nobody took me seriously. However, when they noticed the tilt in the tree, they started moving away,” Couto said.
Couto also alerted the kitchen staff and chief security officer of the stadium. He further added, “We couldn’t locate the owner of a car and the tree collapsed on it. Another passing car suffered a dent. Apart from that, there are no other casualties.”
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The falling tree stalled traffic for a while, however, once the fire brigade and civic garden officials cleared the broken stump of the tree with the help of a JCB, traffic eased up again.
Vishwas Shinde, assistant superintendent of gardens, A-ward, said, “It is not at all unusual that a Gulmohur tree got uprooted. These trees are prone to such accidents as they are hollow. This one was about 15-20 years old, but there was no sign of concrete near its roots, which must have led to all this. It seems natural.”
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