Woman killed as tree falls on auto in Chennai

CHENNAI: A 38-year-old woman with disability died after a tree on North Boag Road, T Nagar, fell on an autorickshaw in which she was travelling on Saturday evening.
Suryah Arasakumar, a resident of West Mada Street in Nungambakkam and an employee of Tamilnadu Industrial Investment Corporation Ltd, was returning home from her office in the autorickshaw. Police said the roots of the tree were pruned by a builder for construction of a compound wall earlier in the day. "In the evening the tree got uprooted, fell on the autorickshaw crushing it," police inspector K Murali said.
'Residents cut roots as it was entering compound'
Inspector Murali said, "Auto driver Sekar managed to escape but the passenger, Suryah, was stuck in the rear seat."
A police team tried to pull the woman out of the autorickshaw with help of Greater Chennai Corporation workers and residents but in vain. Later, a crane was brought to lift the tree. Suryah was pulled out of the crushed vehicle and sent to the Government Royapettah Hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival. "Her body has taken to the mortuary. A postmortem will be conducted soon," he said. Corporation officials in the Teynampet zone suspect pruning may have affected the stability of the tree, a poongai maram (Millettia pinnata). "The tree is at least 40 years old. They cut the roots as it was entering their compound. But the residents did not expect the tree to fall," said ward 117 counsellor P Tirumalai.Mayor R Priya condoled the death. There have been multiple tree accidents in recent times. A bank staff died in KK Nagar when a tree near a pit dug up for a storm water drain collapsed last year. Cyclone Mandous also triggered more than a thousand free falls.