Ho Chi Minh City inspects, trims trees after fatal park incident

State-owned Ho Chi Minh City Greenery Parks Co. Ltd. conducted inspections and thinned out several long-standing trees at Tao Dan Park in the downtown area on Tuesday.

Tao Dan Park is the first site where the company reviewed age-old trees, following an incident in which a falling tree branch at the park resulted in two fatalities and three injuries.

After Tao Dan, the company plans to inspect trees at other major parks, including Ba Muoi Thang Tu and Gia Dinh, as well as along city streets.

The company removed branches that showed signs of disease or decay.

For hopea odorata and dipterocarpus alatus trees, workers anchored large branches to the trunks for added stability.

Ho Chi Minh City Greenery Parks Co. Ltd. also used drones to inspect and assess trees, establishing teams to promptly address any problematic ones.

Dr. Pham Viet Thuan, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Natural Resources and Environment, asserted that trees should not be excessively cut down in response to an accident.

He advised that age-old trees should be carefully reviewed and replaced when necessary.

On August 9 morning, a tree branch came plummeting down right where a group of residents were doing exercise.

The falling tree limb was hollow inside and measured 10 meters long. The branch fell approximately 20 meters.

Two of the residents died on the spot while three were injured in the incident.

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