A 21-year-old worker who was busy installing a huge 56-meter Christmas tree in Maricá, Brazil, is believed to have died Monday afternoon when the structure collapsed in a sudden storm.
“As soon as Civil Defense issued a rain warning, at 3:45 p.m., the company responsible for erecting the tree began to recall its employees […] The workers were surprised by the storm, with strong winds and a lot of rain, which caused the structure to collapse in a few seconds,” said the municipality of Maricá in a press release, reported by local media Globo on Tuesday.
Monday afternoon, young worker Vinícius dos Santos Abreu was installing the important structure on a floating platform with his team when the Christmas tree collapsed without warning, according to the Brazilian media.
This 56-meter illuminated tree is one of the main Christmas tourist attractions in this metropolitan region located near Rio de Janeiro, he said, and was to be inaugurated this Wednesday, one week before Christmas.
Visitors can normally access the foot of the tree via a terrace, where shows are also held during the festivities.
On a video relayed by Globo, we can see the white and red tree causing a significant splash, before the group of workers rushed to the scene to help three of their comrades injured in the fall.
The latter were coming down from the structure at the time of the incident, according to Brazilian authorities.
Unfortunately, the death of the young worker was noted upon his arrival at the hospital, according to Globo.
According to the town hall, an investigation was opened and assistance offered to the victims and their families, we can read.
