Surveillance camera footage has captured the moment a 66-foot-tall tree falls due to stormy weather in the city of Oudenaarde.
Friday 22 December 2023 16:44 UK
A large Christmas tree falls on a busy street in Belgium, killing one woman and injuring two others.
Surveillance camera footage has captured the moment a 66-foot-tall tree fell in heavy weather in the city of Oudenaarde. Belgiumon Thursday.
Footage showed a brightly lit tree slowly starting to lean and collapse next to a Christmas market as a merry-go-round spun near the historic square.
A spokesperson for the state prosecutor in Oost-Vlaanderen said the incident was under investigation.
“The investigation will focus on whether the tree was properly secured and will also look at the effects of weather,” the spokesperson said.
The victim was a 63-year-old woman from Oudenaarde, and two other women also sustained minor injuries in the incident.
Arashi no PiaThe disaster, which caused chaos in Britain and the Netherlands on Thursday, also affected western Belgium, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing a yellow code warning for coastal areas.
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A woman has died after being hit by a falling tree in the Netherlands, according to medical group ZoZijn.
The woman, who was employed by Zozin, was riding her bike past the tree Thursday when it fell, the organization said.