Monday November 8, 2010
Branch falls and damages five cars
By ISABELLE LAI
[email protected]
KUALA LUMPUR: A leisurely Sunday afternoon took a crashing turn when a branch fell on a row of about five cars parked near a block of flats off Jalan San Peng here yesterday. Car owner Trisha Lim, 26, said the incident at the Sri Selangor flats occurred at about 11.30am, just minutes before she and her mother came down from one of the upper floors of the block. She said there was extensive damage to her Perodua MyVi which she had intended to use at that time.
Damaged: Lim (right) and a friend are checking out the condition of her car after the incident in Jalan San Peng, Kuala Lumpur, Sunday.
“It could have been disastrous for us if we had come down just five or 10 minutes earlier,” she said. An eyewitness, Rahmah Pakir Muhammad, 58, said that because the Myvi took the brunt of the impact, a family in a Proton Saga passing at the time were spared heavier damage or injury. “The woman and two children were unharmed, but the man (driver) suffered some head injury and went to the hospital,” she added.
Resident G. Mogan, 31, whose Proton Wira was also smashed, lamented that this was the third time that such an incident had occurred at the flats. “City Hall had chopped off all but these two trees soon after the last incident two years ago,” he added. City Hall’s Falling Trees Unit officer Mohd Haizam Jalis said the incident could have been due to the windy conditions. He said the tree branches were brittle and could snap easily.
“Residents throw rubbish out of their windows and the waste gets trapped in the branches, causing them to die as they are deprived of proper sunlight.” Haizam advised owners whose cars were damaged to claim for repairs from City Hall – on condition that they provided photocopies of their car grant, insurance policy, identity card, police report and driver’s licence. “City Hall will also compensate them during the loss-of-use period if they have to rent a car or use other transport to get around,” he said, adding that they would need to provide receipts as proof.
