Baby hit by falling tree at beach dies

MELAKA: A baby boy who was injured by a falling Casuarina tree at Pantai Puteri in Tanjong Kling on Saturday evening, succumbed to his injuries early yesterday while receiving treatment at Melaka Hospital.

Melaka Tengah district police chief ACP Christopher Patit said the victim, Mohd Zafran Ilman Mohd Sazwan, aged one year and four months, was at the time being carried by his mother Nurulhuda Md Ali 34, who was also injured by the falling tree.

“Police received information about the incident at about 6.43pm yesterday (Nov 12) and when they arrived at the scene, we found that a Casuarina tree had fallen and there were two victims at the scene. It is understood that the victim’s family, from Kajang, Selangor, had come on a holiday and were staying at one of the resorts there. The mother was carrying her baby and walking towards the beach when the tree suddenly fell and hit both of them,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Christopher said according to an eyewitness, the mother’s head was buried under the sand whereas the baby was thrown into a thicket of leaves and tree branches.

“The public helped to dig the victim out of the sand. The mother suffered several injuries on her body while the baby was unconscious and was believed to have suffered head injuries.”