A young woman of just twenty died yesterday after half a palm tree fell on her in the Raval neighborhood. The events took place between Plaça Emili Vendrell and Carrer Joaquín Costa around four in the afternoon. A large palm tree about ten meters high, one of the trees in the square, was broken more or less in half, and a large part of the trunk and the entire crown fell diagonally towards the street The City Council is already investigating the causes of this incident.
“I ran out of the bar and approached her – explains the manager of a takeaway located right in front of the place -. The girl was no longer moving, and the blood was spreading… We called the emergency services and a couple of officers from the Urban Guard arrived immediately. They tried to revive her, but it was not possible. They couldn’t do anything for her.” After a few minutes, more municipal police, Mossos d’Esquadra agents, three fire crews from the city and another three from the Medical Emergency System arrived.
“Let’s see – residents of the area later agreed – what’s happening here is that they haven’t pruned properly for a long time”. “And above, in the cup, there was a nest of parrots. Do you know how many kilos these nests can weigh?”. “About a year ago, a branch fell from one of the trees. Fortunately, it didn’t touch anyone.” “Yes – confirm the Eixa Raval trade association – and a tree also fell in Plaça Aureli Capmany. The truth is that since we’ve been in a drought, we haven’t seen many maintenance jobs in the neighborhood.”
The victim is a well-known person in this part of the neighborhood. She was very involved, for years, in an entity called Metzineres, a non-profit cooperative that helps many women with a tremendously complicated past to rebuild their lives. The local of this cooperative is located just a couple of blocks from the scene of the events. Everyone is down there. “I’ve been living in the Raval for a long time. We will not give more details. We still have to talk to the family.”
The Consistory and the police have already opened investigations. The executive of the mayor Jaume Collboni will meet today with those responsible for the Parks and Gardens area. “We will meet all the people involved who have worked together to clarify the facts”, declared the deputy mayor and mayoress accidental, Maria Eugènia Gay.
And the truth is that this tragedy could have been even more terrible. The palm tree in question fell right next to a worker from the municipal cleaning services who was passing by. “He passed me by and…”. In fact, the branches stung the cleaning vehicle. The employee had come down to empty a bin. She was completely dismayed, but was not injured. In addition, the crossroads of Emili Vendrell and Joaquín Costa during August afternoons seems deserted. But as soon as it cools down a bit, it becomes one of the busiest points in the Raval. Here many people tend to settle down to drink a few cans, among many skateboarders, tourists and neighbors who come and go.
