Tree falls, 13 killed

Photo: The Canadian Press

A huge oak tree crashed down on a popular religious festival on the Portuguese island of Madeira Tuesday, killing 13 people and injuring 49 others, officials said.

The tree fell while a large crowd was gathered near the island's capital of Funchal as part of the Nossa Senhora do Monte festival. It's Madeira's biggest annual festivity and was being held Monday and Tuesday, drawing large crowds to a church on Funchal's outskirts.

The tree was a towering oak, which local media reports said was more than 200 years old. Regional authorities say they are investigating what caused it to come down.

Regional health chief Pedro Ramos said seven people had serious injuries. Of the fatalities, 10 people died at the site of the accident. A child died en route to a local hospital, where a woman later died. It was not clear where the last victim died.

RTP public television showed images of emergency workers gathered under a group of tall trees on the Atlantic island. Ambulances were shown pulling away from the site while workers wielding chain saws cut away limbs from an enormous tree on the ground.

More televised images showed some people attending to the injured. Others appeared visibly shaken.