One person died in an accident this Monday afternoon (16) in Maricá (RJ), involving a large floating Christmas tree. Two other people were injured.
The 56-meter-high Christmas tree with around 360,000 micro lights was being set up in Lagoa de Araçatiba. The city hall would hold the inauguration at 8pm this Tuesday (17th). On that occasion, the show Águas Dançantes would also be presented.
Videos that went viral on social media show that there was a strong wind at the time of the accident. The structure gives way and falls onto a group of workers involved in assembling the tree.
In a statement, the city of Maricá stated that the Civil Defense issued a heavy rain warning at 3:45 pm and that the company contracted to install the structure began to withdraw employees.
“At that moment, the workers were surprised by the passage of a storm”, adds the text.
According to the municipality, due to strong winds and heavy rain, the structure was torn down in a few seconds. “The victims were immediately rescued by teams from Samu, Civil Defense, Municipal Guard, Traffic Department and Fire Department”, records the note.
The identities of the victims were not revealed. The employee who died was taken to Conde Modesto Leal Municipal Hospital, but did not survive. The other two injured were taken to the Doctor Ernesto Che Guevara Municipal Hospital and are out of danger. One of them has already been discharged.
In the note, the city of Maricá also states that it deeply regrets the episode and says that it is providing support to the victims and their families. The municipality also informed that it will investigate the causes of the accident.
