A 4-year-old girl has tragically died after a palm tree fell on her. She had been playing in her backyard in Australia when the plant collapsed on top of her.
"The Northern Territory Police Force are investigating after 4-year-old child died in Tiwi this afternoon," the release read. "Around 1:55pm, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre received a report that a 4-year-old female was struck by a falling palm tree at an address in Tiwi while playing in the yard."
Authorities added, "Police and St John Ambulance attended the scene, and the victim was conveyed to Royal Darwin Hospital; however, she was pronounced deceased prior to arrival."
Palm Tree Falls
"An 11-year-old male was also struck by the palm tree and suffered non-life-threatening injuries," the statement continued. "The incident is not believed to be suspicious. Investigations are ongoing and a report will be prepared for the coroner."
Initially, reports misidentified the 4-year-old as 7 years old, but this was later corrected. Palm tree deaths are rare, but they do happen from time to time. For instance, in 2014, a council person died after a palm tree fell on them.
"For a person to be in exactly the wrong spot at exactly the right time, is really rare," arborist Ben Kenyon told ABC. "Quite often, it is a bit of a freak event.
"[My] thoughts go out to the family for sure — it's tragic," he said of the palm tree accident.
He added, "A fungi getting into the trunk of a tree in the Top End [area] can kill it within three to 12 months — a very similar fungi in a similar tree in the southern states may take five to 10 years."
Kenyon continued, "It's just far, far quicker with the growth rates that you have and the humidity and the style of tree that you have in the Top End."
