Woman killed by tree branch that ‘snapped’ over her in Manchester

The fallen branch of a birch tree on Stanton Avenue in Didsbury (Picture: UGC/MEN Media)

A woman has died after she was hit by a falling tree branch while walking along a busy road yesterday evening.

The freak accident happened in the West Didsbury area of Manchester at around 7.15pm.

Police said the woman died at the scene on Barlow Moor Road, at the junction with Stanton Avenue.

A worker at a nearby petrol station who witnessed what happened told the Manchester Evening News: ‘The tree just snapped, it was a big branch and just fell. A woman was walking underneath.

‘The weather was a bit windy but not strong. A few locals came out and some of them were doctors so they were trying to help her. Then the ambulance came and police closed the road.’

A bare area of tree trunk shows where the branch fell away (Picture: MEN Media)

Photos from the scene showed how a clump of branches almost as big as a tree itself fell across the road, blocking the carriageway.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: ‘At around 7.15pm on Saturday 30 August we were called to reports a tree had fallen onto a woman on Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury.

‘Despite the best efforts of emergency workers, a woman in her 40s was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

‘The death is not being treated as suspicious.’

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