Male driver, 59, tragically dies after being crushed by falling tree

A 59-year-old man has died after a tree fell on his car after a huge storm ripped through Melbourne overnight.

Victoria Police confirmed the man was leaving a shopping centre car park when a tree fell and crushed the vehicle at the intersection of Terrys Avenue and Ena Road just after 6pm. The man suffered life-threatening injuries and has since died.

“Police will prepare a report for the Coroner,” Victoria Police said in a statement. “Anyone who witnessed the crash or who may have dashcam footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.”

The 59-year-old man is one of three people who have died overnight as a result of the storm. A 36-year-old woman also died after a tree fell on a vehicle in Fernshaw, in Victoria’s north-east. The driver, a 24-year-old Flinders man, was transported to a hospital with minor injuries.

A four-year-old boy became the third fatality after a gum tree fell onto him in Blackburn South last night. He was taken to the Royal Children’s Hosptial with critical injuries but died overnight.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time a falling tree has killed someone. In August last year, a woman died in Victoria after a tree crushed her family’s car amid wild weather. Angie Suryadi, who was in the front passenger seat of the car, passed away while her husband, driver Arnold Adiatiasvara, and their two sons were rushed to hospital