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FATAL HIKE: The body of Mr Nguyen Ngoc Quang being taken out of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve yesterday. A tree branch fell on him while he and his companions were on the Petaling hiking trail, after having gone past the TreeTop Walk. -- LIANHE ZAOBAO
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A MAN died after being hit on the head by a falling tree branch yesterday.
His death follows those of three others killed by falling trees in as many weeks.
Mr Nguyen Ngoc Quang, a Vietnamese in his mid-20s, was on one of the hiking trails of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve at about 1.45pm when the incident occurred.
The Singapore Permanent Resident, who was with a brother and three friends, died at the scene. His companions were unhurt.
They had been on the Petaling Trail, after having been on the TreeTop Walk, a 250m-long suspension bridge linking the two highest points in the area.
Paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) fought to save Mr Nguyen.
The SCDF said the branch was about a metre long, with a diameter of about 20cm.
The National Parks Board (NParks) said the branch came from a big forest tree known as the Litsea, estimated to be about 30m tall.
An NParks statement said it was windy and raining heavily at the time.
The standard practice in the nature reserve is to shut the gate to the TreeTop Walk whenever it starts drizzling, but Mr Nguyen's party had already gone past it, added NParks.
Deaths from falling trees have been in the news of late.
On May 15, a tree crushed a 43-year-old woman in Bukit Batok Nature Park, which also comes under NParks.
The same day, a 27-year-old man was killed by a falling tree while camping at Mount Ophir in Johor.
Five days after that, a 47-year-old man died in a similar manner there.
NParks reminds the public to be careful when walking in forested areas in bad weather.
It pledged to keep up its checks on the trees in its parks in the interest of public safety.
Dr Hong Yan, the director of Plant Biotechnology at the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, said disease or insects were possible reasons behind branches breaking off.
Asked what could be done to avert accidents such as this, he said that NParks was 'doing the right thing' with visual inspections and constant monitoring of the health of its trees.
But the 'sheer number' of trees in this Garden City makes it 'unfeasible to inspect every single one', he added.
joolin@sph.com.sg
taniat@sph.com.sg
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