Men escape death from falling tree in Curepe

News

LUCKY ESCAPE: Fruit vendor Roger Richardson near the pommerac tree which fell on his fruit stall in Curepe during heavy showers on Tuesday. PHOTO BY AYANNA KINSALE - Ayanna Kinsale

Three men narrowly escaped serious injury or even death on Tuesday after a decades-old pommerac tree came crashing down on a fruit stall and a truck in Curepe during heavy rain and strong winds on November 12.

Fruit vendor Roger Richardson was counting his lucky stars when Newsday visited, after seeing a backhoe clearing away the large tree from the corner of Evans and Agostini Streets.

“I have plenty mangoes around here. I just step across to ask the doubles man if he wanted some mango to buy wholesale. As I was coming back (to the stall) I heard a loud crack but I thought it was just a piece of the tree that was breaking off, not realising it was the whole tree that collapsed," Richardson said.

“I walked away in time, because I was now there fixing mango and thing. I just get that vibes to let me ask the doubles man if he want some vert mango wholesale, because normally is only Julie (mangoes) I does have.”

Richardson said the tree also fell on a truck which was about to drive off at the corner. In the truck were its driver and a passenger.

>

“It fell on a man's vehicle, a three-tonne truck that was now pulling off. They now buy their thing to eat from the lady and was now going out. It fall on top of their vehicle. Nobody was injured and, shocking, the vehicle wasn't damaged.”

Doubles vendor Aleem Mohammed said he thought the tree had been struck by lightning.

“I see a lightning flash and after the flash, the tree fall. It was scary, because I was standing up right under the shed in the back when I see the lightning flash. I wasn’t sure if it had hit the tree, but when you see the roots, they burst and come out.

“It had a truck park up there and the tree fall on it. The driver and the passenger was trapped inside, couldn’t get out. They didn’t get damage, though.”

Richardson said the tree fell on his fruit and vegetable stall, which he had been maintaining, on and off, for the last 18 years.

“I was now setting back up to see if I could get some sales, because I used to sell in the market and decided to come back here after my mother passed away.”

He said after the incident, which happened around 10.30 am, workmen from the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation came and chopped up the tree into smaller pieces to allow the backhoe to move it away to one side of the road, to be collected by trucks from the corporation.

The tree also pulled down overhead cable and telephone lines. Corporation workers said no electricity wires were affected.