Tragedy in Portugal: 200-year-old oak tree killed 13 people

During a religious holiday on the Portuguese island of Madeira, a huge long-lived oak tree collapsed on the crowd, as a result of which 13 people were killed and about 50 more were injured. It happened around noon on Tuesday near a church in the vicinity of the city of Funchal.

(6 photos in total)

A huge 200-year-old oak tree fell into the crowd of participants of the Festa da Senhora do Monter (Ascension of the Virgin, or Assumption) in the suburbs of Funchal in Portuguese Madeira.

The incident occurred around noon on Tuesday, August 15. On the occasion of the feast of the Assumption, hundreds of citizens and tourists gathered in the square near the temple. A huge tree stood next to the fountain, where the participants of the celebration bought candles.

At some point, the old oak tree could not stand it and collapsed right on the crowd. A video appeared on the network that captured the moment of the fall: at first the tree tilted, as if giving people time to disperse.

As a result of the fall of a tree, 13 people were killed: 10 people died at the scene, three — a woman and two children — in the hospital. About 50 were injured, most of them have head injuries and fractures. There is information that foreign tourists, in particular citizens of Germany, France, the Netherlands and Hungary, were among the injured.

According to the newspaper Público, the collapsed "killer tree" is a 200-year-old oak tree, one of several growing in the square near the church.

To remove the huge tree from the square, it had to be sawn. Meanwhile, local activists warned a few years ago that the trunk was hollow and the oak could collapse at any minute.

Three days of mourning have been declared in Madeira because of the incident. And Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sosa expressed condolences to the families and friends of the victims, wished a speedy recovery to the injured and said that all Portuguese are "in shock."