Three injured as tree falls onto car roof

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

By Kate Gould

THREE people are lucky to be alive after a tree fell on their car while they were travelling down a busy stretch of the South Circular.

The accident, which happened at around 1pm on Wednesday at the junction of Christchurch Road and Norwood Road, caused hours of tailbacks as the emergency services cleared the car and debris from the road.

The tree fell at the Tulse Hill one-way system, crushing the back and roof of the Toyota car.

The tree smashed the windscreen and the rear window and narrowly missed a 432 bus which was travelling behind the car to Brixton.

Roads in the area were gridlocked and traffic was at a standstill for about three hours after the accident as police closed Christchurch Road.

Three ambulance crews and an air ambulance were sent to the scene and treated two men and a woman for neck injuries.

A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service said one of the men was taken by ambulance to St George’s Hospital in Tooting for treatment, and the other man and the woman were taken to King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill.

He said none of the injuries were life-threatening.

Riyas Kallan from accountancy firm Tax File in nearby Thurlow Park Road said his clients experienced major delays turning up for their appointments.

He said: “There was a huge build-up of traffic and we saw the air ambulance for a while overhead.

“We didn’t know at the time what was going on but our clients had an awful time getting to the office.

“Most of them were between an hour and two hours late.

“The traffic was absolutely dreadful and backed up along our road for several hours.

“It was chaotic.”

The road reopened about three hours after the incident.

A spokesman for Lambeth council said it was not responsible for the maintenance of the trees on that stretch of road.

Transport for London was unable to confirm if it was responsible for the trees at the time of going to press.

Email: kate.gould@slp.co.uk

All content © of South London Press unless stated otherwise.

1 comments on this news item

Posted by : watson, catford | Friday 18/May/2012 | Report this comment

A tree don’t just fall across a road! The tree must have been deceased for that event to have taken place. I can inform the SLP that tree inspections in parks and on pavements are few and extremely far between. Cut backs have caused councils to reduce the number of tree surgeons.