Authorities said a huge tree limb hit a woman walking her dog in Washington, D.C’s, Capitol Hill neighborhood Wednesday morning, and she was pronounced dead on the scene, according to News 4.
The woman was accompanied by her husband, Nodar Shovnadze, who said they heard the sound of wood cracking. She ran, but the tree limb fell on her, according to News4. (RELATED: REPORT: Tornado Wreaks Havoc On Neighborhood. Tree Falls Onto Home And Kills 3-Year-Old Boy)
“It happened maybe in two, three seconds — less, even. It was very fast,” Shovnadze told News4.
Witnesses in the park ran to try to remove the branch from the woman, but the branch was too heavy.
“We tried to help her but unfortunately we couldn’t,” Shovnadze said. “We couldn’t lift that. It’s so heavy. Maybe if we were, like, six people, all men. But we couldn’t lift that.”
A resident told the outlet that this incident was 100 percent preventable because she had reported that tree a few times to 311, fearing it was a danger. D.C.’s lead arborist responded to the reports by saying the tree was healthy, according to News 4.
“Prior to this event, [it] gave no outward indication or visible indication that a failure of this nature was possible, much less likely,” Earl Eutsler of the Department of Transportation’s Urban Forestry Division, told News4. He also said the tree was last pruned in July 2022.
“It was a healthy limb attached to a healthy tree, fully leafed out. The tree, by all outward indications, was in good condition and that branch was well attached,” Eutsler continued.
D.C. police are leading the death investigation, and the park will remove the tree and inspect the others, News 4 reported.
