Litochoro: Grief for 44-year-old woman crushed by fig branch – “looked like a bomb”

The tragic death of 44-year-old Georgia, who was crushed by a sycamore branch while sitting at an outdoor cafe on the banks of the Enipia River in Litochoro on Friday evening (12/07)

But what makes the whole affair even more tragic is that it all happened in front of the eyes of her army husband and her daughter-in-law, who was killed instantly when a branch broke and fell on her.

The shocking moment saw 10 patrons trying to lift the branch while others tried to give her CPR as her husband held her hand tightly. Sadly, Georgia, a 44-year-old mother of two, was critically injured. Georgia was taken to a local health center where, despite the best efforts of doctors, she was pronounced dead.

The evidence is shocking – her husband narrowly escaped

Shocking description, eyewitness: “(…) I was sitting on my back at a distance of 4-5 meters and heard a crack-crack like lightning. Imagine that it was a branch weighing more than 700 kg, like a bomb had been thrown. It was 10 meters high. It fell from the tree. It went down, the lights went out. The husband called the girl under the branch, and in a few minutes she lost her pulse.”

Another eyewitness described: “It was a real shock. Suddenly we heard a noise and in a few seconds there was a panic,” she spoke to ANT1, while – according to reports – her husband was saved as the branch passed him at the last moment.

A sad figure her husband stood beside her and held her hand until she released him.

“We were all in a hurry, including me. I was bruised, full of scratches. It was a huge crowd. It was not a branch, it was a trunk that fell on the world. (…) Some parents were trapped, but luckily they grabbed the children and pulled them away. “We helped them from the tree branches. It almost fell into the center and the branches leveled the others,” said journalist Euripides Stamos.

The sad irony is that Georgia lost her niece a few days ago and she was looking after her younger niece. Sadly, in addition to the loss of her mother she had to deal with, Minor saw her aunt killed in front of her eyes.

Why did the branch break?

As the site of the tragedy is covered with plane trees, many people are enjoying the coolness and shade in the shops in the area.

ELAS and the Forestry Office carried out a post-mortem at the scene of the tragedy, which found that the plane tree had no disease that would have justified the fall of the branch.

In fact, Efstratios Kyriakis, head of the Litochoro community in Piria, said: “The plane trees in this particular place are growing very quickly, and now we are wondering what steps we can take to not mourn. Another victim. It is an unfortunate moment to find this particular one. In a week, in cooperation with the Forestry Department , will tell us which ones to prune”(…) The tree was found to have no problems in terms of drought or internal erosion. It was dangerous, and the forest department concluded that the collapse was only because the particular branch was too heavy. For beneath it floweth many aeons of water.”

The owner of the shop was arrested in connection with the fatal incident, but was later released on a verbal order from the prosecutor, while A.D. Dion Olympos is conducting a preliminary investigation to establish the exact circumstances of the tragic event.

It is to be noted that the restaurant where the fatality occurred will remain closed till Monday as a sign of mourning.

Who is 44-year-old Georgia?

The news of his loss left his family and local people in mourning.

The unfortunate woman came from Karditsa and worked in Litochoro because her husband served as a soldier there.

More specifically, she moved to the area with her husband on account of being transferred to a military unit (professional hoplite of the army) in that area and recently they were living there with their two minor children.

In fact, a few days ago, the 44-year-old lost his daughter-in-law and was taking care of his daughter-in-law who was with him during the tragedy.

The accident took place on Friday night when they were out with their daughter-in-law for a drink at a shop located in Enibiz Valley.

Georgia’s funeral is tomorrow

The funeral of the unfortunate Georgia will take place tomorrow, Sunday 14 July 2024, at the Holy Church of Agios Nikolaos, Kallifonio Corditsa community, at 19.00.