Police investigate boy's death by tree in Odesa region as an accident

Police investigators have classified the tragedy that occurred on July 27 in Balta, Odesa Oblast, as an accident and have planned a number of examinations as part of the investigation.

This was reported by the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in Odesa Oblast.

Investigators have preliminarily established that the underage locals and a boy from Odesa, who came to visit his grandmother, were vacationing near the Kodyma River. When a thunderstorm broke out, the teenagers hid in a tent under a tree, which broke during a strong gust of wind and fell on them.

Unfortunately, a local 15-year-old boy died on the spot. Four other girls were taken to the hospital with various injuries.

Photo: National Police in Odesa region

Rescuers reported the tragedy yesterday. On July 27, the Black and Azov Sea Hydrometeorological Center predicted short-term rain and thunderstorms in the Odesa region. The wind will be easterly, 7-12 meters per second during the day and in some places a squall of 15-20 meters per second during the storm.

Strong winds often break trees in the Odesa region, as on July 17, a stormy wind also toppled 11 trees and large branches in Odesa. Prior to that, the Black and Azov Sea Hydrometeorological Center warned of dangerous meteorological phenomena of the first level (yellow) of danger in Odesa. At the same time, Odesa City Hall asked Odesa residents and visitors to be vigilant and limit their movements and travel as much as possible, especially for the elderly, children and pregnant women.

In February, police and rescuers spent several hours searching for three teenagers who allegedly fell through the ice in a rural pond in Odesa Oblast. The boys, aged 14 and 15, from a village in the Krasnosilska community, fell through the ice at a local pond and died.Also in Odesa, a child fell through the ice in Peremohy Park in Odesa. He was rescued by a man who tried to crawl to the boy on the ice, but also fell through and pulled the child out while he was already in the water. Both of them are alive.

Кирило Бойко