GEORGE TOWN, Aug 9 (Bernama) -- The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) is using satellite-based remote sensing technology and physical on-site inspections to assess the health of trees following an incident involving a fallen tree at Jalan Macalister here today.
MBPP Mayor Datuk A. Rajendran said the measures were important to identify trees that could still be saved and rehabilitated, as well as those that needed to be felled for safety reasons.
He said the Angsana tree that fell along Jalan Macalister, estimated to be about 90 years old with a trunk circumference of approximately 3.9 metres, landed on a car and injured an elderly couple and their granddaughter.
"Most trees in the George Town area are between 70 and 120 years old. We use satellite-based remote sensing technology and physical on-site inspections to determine the health of the trees.
"Through these inspections, MBPP will take steps to rehabilitate trees that can still be saved, while trees that cannot be salvaged will have to be felled," he told Bernama today, adding that the elderly couple and granddaughter were being still treated at Penang Hospital.
“Based on the information we received, those injured were identified as a 66-year-old man, his 68-year-old wife and their eight-year-old granddaughter. MBPP officers are also at the hospital to monitor their condition and provide whatever assistance is needed," he said.
Meanwhile, Penang Fire and Rescue Department Operations and Firefighting assistant director John Sagun Francis said the male victim, Loh Kok Kim, sustained injuries to his chest, his wife, Lee Geok Suan, suffered injuries to her nose and chest, and their granddaughter, Emily Loh Tze Ying, sustained an injury to her hand.
-- BERNAMA