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The scene on Abbey Road after the tree’s collapse |
Driver knocked unconscious by falling tree was ‘lucky to survive’
Ambulance crews struggled for 30 minutes to release man; branches ‘pinned women to chairs’
A MINICAB driver had a miraculous escape after being knocked unconscious by a giant tree which suddenly uprooted itself in Kilburn and smashed through the roof of his parked car.
Abdul Rashid, 53, was taken to the Royal Free Hospital with head injuries after being rescued from his cab in Abbey Road.
Yesterday (Wednesday), he was said to be in a stable condition.
Our main picture was taken by the New Journal soon after the beefy 40-foot tree’s sudden collapse on Friday afternoon and shows how it crashed through the middle of the street.
Traders said two young women enjoying a latte in the midday sun were left pinned to their tables under the thick branches.
Mohammed Eljaz Khaliz, 26, who runs the Food Link mini-market at the junction of Boundary Road and Abbey Road, said: “The man in the car was unconscious and his head was slanted down his neck to the left. He had come in the shop just a few minutes before. Everyone was screaming. We had to wait to rescue him – there was nothing we could do. It would take 100 people to move the tree. I don’t know how he survived. You just don’t expect something like that to happen.”
Police, four fire engines, an ambulance and an air ambulance were dispatched to the parade of shops at around 1.30pm.
Mr Rashid was trapped in his car for around 30 minutes as fire engines and ambulance crews struggled to release him.
Ashaf Mohammed, the owner of Millennium Taxis in West End Lane, where Mr Rashid works, said: “It is magic that he’s alive. He is very lucky. I have spoken to him and he is not very good. He cannot come back to work for a while. We heard that a tree had gone down in Abbey Road but it was only when the police called that we knew Abdul was involved.”
A woman who works in the Abbey Road Shanghai Cafe said she heard two women crying on the cafe patio after the tree fell.
She said: “The whole coffee shop went dark – the tree’s branches blocked out the light. The women were having their lattes when the tree fell. We were stuck inside for an hour.”
Gilad Roth, 35, a trainee chef at Poem restaurant in Abbey Road, said: “They were still sitting in their chairs with the tree stuck on top of them. I managed to move the branch up and they just walked up. It’s lucky that no one was killed.”
An ambulance service spokesman said: “A man was taken by ambulance to the Royal Free with a head injury. Three others were treated on scene.”
Arboricultural experts said the tree may have been damaged by “brown rot”, a disease which destroys the inside of trees without appearing on the outside.
Simon Jolly, a tree specialist who works on compensation cases for people injured by trees, said: “Brown rot basically eats away at the cellulose in the tree. It makes it go hard and so it cracks. But the reasons these trees fall is very much open to debate. I would imagine that there will be an investigation which will look at if there has been a breach of the duty of care.”
An investigation has been launched by the Health and Safety Executive. The tree is just a couple of steps over the Westminster border and an official for Westminster Council said the tree had been “looked at” by officers in August and had been pruned in September.
It is the second time a tall tree has fallen unexpectedly into a vehicle and driver in recent weeks. An articulated lorry was struck by a falling lime tree in Lyndhurst Road, Hampstead, in April. Its driver was treated for shock at the Royal Free.
Officials for both Westminster Council and Camden Council said trees were inspected every three years. Paul Akers, Westminster Council’s arboricultural manager said: “We are currently working with the police and the health and safety executive to investigate what caused the tree to fall.” |
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