Man and child killed by falling tree in freak accident

A man and a child have been killed after a large gum tree fell on their moving vehicle in the Dandenong Ranges.

The freak accident happened as their car travelled north along Monbulk Road at Sherbrooke about 5.30pm yesterday.

The driver, a 46-year-old man, and his passenger, a 10-year-old boy, died at the scene.

The tragedy happened amid wild storms overnight.

The SES was called to about 150 incidents and more than 2000 homes woke to power outages this morning.

Knox Highway Patrol officers will investigate the Sherbrooke incident and prepare a report for the coroner.

Tree removalist Len McKeown said freak accidents like this are difficult to prevent.

“With the combination of the wind and the rain, the soil gets compromised,” he told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.

Mr McKeown said councils do they best they can to ensure tree stability, but it’s an enormous task.

“The resources you would need to monitor every tree makes it just impossible,” he said.

But Mr McKeown said tree fall accidents are uncommon.

“You’d have better chance of winning Tattslotto than being hit by a tree,” he said.

It’s the second fatal tree fall accident in Australia in less than a week.

Last Thursday, a tree in the Blue Mountains fell on a vehicle, killing a man and seriously injuring a woman.

VICTORIAN ROAD TOLL
2019: 167
Same time 2018: 105

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