Palm tree falls on ma, tot

AN 18-year-old mother and her two-month-old son were killed after a palm tree fell on their hut in Naga City last night.

Mary Jane Tapasao and her son Keith Norwein were killed when a 40-foot palm tree, locally known as buli, fell on their house in Sitio Spillway, Barangay Lanas in Naga at past 8 p.m.

The tree is said to be 40 to 50 years old.

Rey Mantalaba, a member of the Naga City Rescue Team, told Sun.Star Cebu that Tapasao was breastfeeding her son and putting him to sleep.

She was waiting for her husband to come home.

It was at this point when the tree, estimated to weigh about one ton, fell on their house, pinning both mother and child to their death.

Mantalaba said that because their office is far from the mountain barangay of Lanas, it took them more than an hour to retrieve the bodies. The bodies were pulled out from the house at 10 p.m.

Lanas barangay chief Florita Abatayo first informed the rescue team of the accident.

Neighbors of the victims told Mantalaba that just before the accident, the wind blew and seconds later, they heard a loud crash coming from the Tapasaos’ house.

When they took a closer look at the buri tree, Mantalaba and his companions found that its wide trunk collapsed, sending the upper portion of the tree falling toward Tapasao’s house.

The tree was reportedly old and weak.

The bodies of Tapasao and her son were brought to a funeral parlor in Naga City.