Driver escapes serious injury as large tree branch crashes on to truck in Yau Ma Tei
Two vehicles hit in separate incidents, raising questions over risk assessment programme
Two more incidents have raised further concern about the effectiveness of a tree-risk assessment programme.
A passenger in a truck was killed last week by a falling banyan tree in Tai Po.
In the latest incidents, driver Liu Chi-sing, 43, complained of dizziness after a large branch fell from a 10-metre tall banyan tree on to the roof of his truck in Yau Ma Tei shortly after 3pm. The tree branch fell in Tak Hing Street at a junction with Tak Shing Street, police said.
Liu complained of dizziness and was treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The branch damaged the vehicle's roof. The section of road was closed as firefighters removed the branch.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department said a team inspected the tree on April 5 and found its condition normal. It would work with police to investigate the cause of the incident.
In the other incident, a 10-metre-tall tree collapsed on to the roof of a delivery van parked on Po Lam Road North at King Lam Estate, Tseung Kwan O.
Police said the driver returned at about 9.30am to find the roof of his vehicle damaged, police said.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department is also investigating this case.
Last Thursday, a 100-year-old banyan tree collapsed on to a passing truck on a narrow road approaching Lam Kam Road near Tong Min Tsuen, Tai Po. A 29-year-old passenger was crushed to death and the driver, 41, suffered minor injuries.
It was the second fatality since a tree monitoring programme began more than two years ago, sparked by the death of a teenager who was killed by a falling tree in Stanley in 2008. In June 2010, a cyclist was killed when a tree fell on him in Yuen Chau Kok, Sha Tin. A tree collapsed and injured five people in Park Lane Shopper's Boulevard in Tsim Sha Tsui in July this year.