7 injured as tree falls in HCMC public school

The tree with a trunk of more than one meter did fall on some people standing in the schoolyard and others dropping off their children, and six adults and a seventh grader were injured, principal Le Thi Thanh Giang said.

Of the injured adults, one is a parent of a student and others were passing by on Nguyen Van Thu Street, where the school is located.

All have been taken to hospital.

A tree at Tran Van On Secondary School in HCMC’s District 1 toppled and fell onto Nguyen Van Thu Street, April 3, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

A man named Hoa, 46, said: “I had just seen my kid off when the tree fell. I was hit by a branch but luckily it caused no harm.”

Three motorbikes were crushed.

Ho Chi Minh City Greenery Parks Co. Ltd staff arrived and removed the tree, which blocked part of the street.

A staff of Ho Chi Minh City Greenery Parks Co. Ltd cut the tree into chunks to remove them from the street, April 3, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

It is not clear how old the tree is.

Giang said the tree was last checked on Feb. 22 and found to be in normal condition, and even today it had flowers.

Three years ago a student died at Bach Dang Secondary School in District 3 and 17 others were injured after a 10-meter flamboyant tree fell.

After the tragedy the Department of Construction checked 430 trees at 21 schools in the precinct and had several of them, either too old or sick, chopped down.