Tragedy shocks city
An unidentified 22 year old woman was killed in a car by a falling tree in Oxford's city centre. Her car was crushed during the severe storms that swept through the country last Sunday by a 20-tonne horse chestnut tree on Gloucester Street. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her two sisters, aged 13 and 9, were travelling in the back and were rushed to the John Radcliffe II Hospital for crush injuries.
Beaumont Street was cordoned off to allow emergency services access to the scene. Firefighters quickly released the two people in the front of the car. The back and sides of the car had to be cut away to reach the two younger girls, and a crane was needed to lift the tree and wreckage so that the woman's body could be recovered.
Witness Andrea Waldecker said: "The area was crowded with police and firefighters. At first I thought that the tree had just fallen onto a parked car. Only when I saw the car was in the middle of the street I realised that people had been inside. The car looked very small compared to the size of the tree."
Police have yet to make a formal identification of the woman as issued in a press statement: "The coroner's officer for Oxford is still working to trace a close relative who has not yet been informed of the death."
Oxford City Council's parks services reported several other disruptions with fallen trees. Shaun Gibson said they had "30 highways jobs to deal with, and that's before we start on the houses and parks."
An Indian Bean Tree fell in the University Parks but fortunately missed any people, animals and property.
Other fallen trees included a few at the Iffley Road Gym and in University Parks which were cleared away, and caused no disruptions.
<p><em>Photos: Tragic wreckage: Firefighters clear up the debris on Beaumont Street / Sarah Marsh</em></p>
31st Oct 2002