Family’s shock after boy, 4, killed by falling tree in Blackburn South
The family of a four-year-old boy killed by a falling tree in Blackburn South say he was just four homes from where he lived when the tragedy happened as neighbours remember a “cheeky” little boy who played outside with his dad.
East
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The family of a four-year-old boy killed during Thursday evening’s wild storms say he was out walking with his father and little sister when a tree fell on him.
Ayan Kapoor was taken to hospital in a critical condition after being hit by the tree about 6pm as wild winds tore through Melbourne. He died in the Royal Children’s Hospital.
The tragic incident occurred just four houses from where he lived.
“He (the father) is in very bad condition, he’s in shock, he blames himself for what happened,” Ayan’s uncle said.
“His one-and-a-half year old sister was out walking with them and it happened right in front of them.”
Ayan’s aunty said the tragedy happened after they went outside just like they would on many other nights.
“They’ve just gone outside for a little walk, it was just for two minutes they went outside, and the tree just suddenly fell on him,” Ayan’s aunty said.
“The father had a little injury on his foot but he is okay but yeah, the son was no more, it’s just very sad news.”
Neighbours have said they saw “cheeky” Ayan out playing with his dad in the street most days, and it was a tragedy.
“We’d see him outside almost every day,” a neighbour said.
“He does like a bit of a cheeky run around the corner from his dad and he hides from him, but always supervised.”
Kylie Black, who lives next door to the Kapoor family, said she didn’t hear the tree fall.
“It was quite horrific looking over the back fence and seeing what happened, because I didn’t know what had happened, and it was tragic circumstances in the end,” she said.
“I haven’t experienced any winds like this before around here.
“It’s horrible, isn’t it, it’s not nice so I pass on my condolences to the family.
“I think it’s just a freak accident, uncontrollable.”
A Whitehorse Council spokesperson said: “Whitehorse City Council expresses our sincere condolences to the family of this young member of our community.”
The spokesperson said the council was assisting authorities in assessing the incident.
They said the council had directly received dozens of calls for assistance for fallen trees, branches and damaged fences and crews worked until very late Thursday night and started again early Friday.
“The safety of residents will be our top priority as we attend to clean-up efforts and fallen branches across the municipality,” the spokesperson said.
“We expect it will take some days, as it was a very significant storm event.”
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