One man has been injured after he was hit by a tree that fell in Royal Palace Park in Oslo on Wednesday afternoon. An old tree blew over and hit the man who was quickly taken to hospital. Following the incident, parts of the royal park were closed for the remainder of the day. There are strong winds all over eastern Norway today, and this has created great challenges also in the capital where many trees have fallen and many homes are without electricity.
The tree that fell stood right next to the Guards’ House close to the Royal Palace. Shortly thereafter another tree in the same area of the Palace Park also fell down, but no-one was injured in that incident. Police closed parts of the park and the Royal Court has closed down the oldest park of the park, the so-called Queen’s Park.
Shortly following the incident, the Royal Court issued the following statement: “Due to strong wind, we advise everyone who uses the Palace Park to avoid passing through until the wind has ended. The Queen’s Park will be closed for the remaining hours of the day. Two trees have fallen and one person has been taken to the emergency room. The clean-up is underway. The trees that have fallen are located by the Guards’ House, just before the road opens onto the Palace Square.”
Large crews from the police, fire brigade and several ambulances are present at the open Palace Square. Police believe there may be a chance that more trees may break. Some of the trees in the park are over 200-years-old.
Clean-up was quickly started after the incidents by the royal gardeners. Also, soldiers of the Royal Guard have been deployed on critical parts of the park to warn people who walkthrough. Last year, three trees at the back of the palace were taken down because they were rotten and three new trees were planted in the same place
The Palace Park in Oslo was built during the 1840s and was designed by Hans Ditlev Franciscus Linstow, who was the main architect of the palace. Two thousand trees were planted in 1848, but since then the park has been redeveloped several times, becoming simpler with larger but fewer paths and fewer creeks.
