CHENNAI: An Integral Coach Factory (ICF) engineer was killed after a roadside neem tree collapsed on his motorcycle in strong winds near the ICF Road-New Avadi Road junction in Chennai on Monday evening.
The deceased has been identified as Jayavel (59), a resident of Sivalingapuram in Korattur. He was working as a senior engineer at the Integral Coach Factory.
The ICF police said Jayavel had gone to Anna Nagar on Monday evening for personal work and was returning home later on his motorcycle. When he reached the junction of ICF Road and New Avadi Road, the large roadside tree got uprooted and fell on him, the police said.
The impact left Jayavel with severe injuries, and he died on the spot before help could arrive.
Corporation officials TNIE spoke to said the tree and its canopy looked fine from the outside and the roots were still anchored to the ground. However, the tree could have got uprooted due to what they suspect to be heartwood decay, which is not usually visible from the outside and ails its inner core.
“We have not received any complaints with regard to the tree, and going by its external appearance there was no reason to suspect that the tree was in poor health. We routinely prune trees in the area,” a corporation official said. The fallen branches were immediately cleared to help clear traffic, the official added.
The personnel from the ICF police station rushed to the spot, secured the area and recovered the body. It was later sent to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for a postmortem.
