Couple tried to lift tree that fell on woman in Marsiling Park but failed

A couple out for a morning run were the first people to rush to the aid of a woman who died after a tree fell on her in Marsiling Park in February 2021.

They attempted to lift the tree off Ms Loke Xiao Li, 38, but were unsuccessful, said Assistant Superintendent of Police Muhammad Tajuddin Mohamed Tamrin, the investigating officer who first handled the case.

ASP Tajuddin was called as a witness on Friday during a coroner's inquiry into the death.

Ms Loke, a senior technical coordinator at Mediacorp, was jogging in the park on Feb 18, 2021, when a 20m-tall Araucaria excelsa tree fell on her.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said its officers used cutting equipment to extricate her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic.

During the coroner's inquiry on Friday led by State Coroner Adam Nakhoda, closed-circuit television video footage of Ms Loke before the tree fell was shown.

In the video, she can be seen running in a white T-shirt along a footpath before taking a turn to the right.

The couple, identified by ASP Tajuddin only as Mr Faisal and his wife, took the left turn.

ASP Tajuddin said to his knowledge, there was no other footage of the incident.

He added that SCDF and the police were both notified at about 8.16am and took about five minutes to reach the scene.

On Friday, Mr Rick Thomas, a principal arborist with tree management consultancy ArborCulture, was also called as a witness.

He said termites were the primary cause of the tree failure, based on his assessment after examining the fallen Araucaria excelsa tree.

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This was the first case of its kind he had come across, added Mr Thomas, who has 35 years of experience in the industry.

National Parks Board's (NParks) group director of streetscape Oh Cheow Sheng, speaking at the start of the coroner's inquiry, said the termites had entered the tree from beneath the ground.

However, the termite infestation was not detected when NParks last conducted a visual tree assessment in April 2020 as the tree did not show any visible signs of poor health.

Mr Thomas said the termites had degraded the wood to such an extent that the tree had very thin residual wall thickness.

"It was just gravity or wind that was going to push the (tree) to the point of failure."

Mr Thomas acknowledged that there may be limitations in his assessment as latent defects are not always visible after a tree has fallen. These defects could include an injury or internal decay.

The inquiry is expected to continue on Nov 11.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.