6-month-old, mother crushed under tree

A six-month-old girl and her mother died after a banyan tree fell on them outside the Inox theatre in Nariman Point on Sunday night.

A six-month-old girl and her mother died after a banyan tree fell on them outside the Inox theatre in Nariman Point on Sunday night.

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The woman identified as Manisha Bhansali, 27, a resident of Girgaum, was waiting outside the theatre with her daughter Aarvi.

The family had gone to watch a movie at the theatre, but as they did not get tickets, Manisha's husband, Naresh Bhansali, went to fetch their bike while the mother-daughter duo waited, said Kamlesh Sanghvi, a family friend.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred at 8:30pm and the child was crushed under the tree.

“While the child died on the spot, the mother was rushed to GT Hospital and later shifted to Bombay Hospital, but she too succumbed to her injuries,” said a fire brigade official.

Fire brigade officials had to cut the branches of the tree with an electric saw to pull out the mother-daughter duo from under the tree.

Fifteen cars parked outside the theatre, which include a Bentley, a BMW and a Mercedes among others, were also damaged.

Last year, 4 people had died and 13 were injured in tree fall incidents across the city.

On August 16, 2010, the Hindustan Times had reported how an 18-year-old student from St. Xavier’s College lost one leg after a branch from an unpruned tree fell on her. Follow-up reports by HT on more such incidents prodded the BMC to announce better training and new norms for tree-pruning and offer compensation to all victims.

“We have undertaken pre-monsoon pruning across the city. Whether or not this tree was pruned will have to be checked,” said Suhas Karvande, deputy municipal commissioner (Gardens).