A large branch from a eucalyptus tree fell this Saturday on two friends in a square in the capital. One of them, aged 21, remains in the ICU of the Regional Hospital with several fractures.
Saturday afternoon was progressing normally in the square on Pedro Gómez Sancho street, between the neighbourhoods of Miraflores de los Ángeles and La Roca, when Sheila, 23, and her friend Sumaya, 21, sat on one of the benches to chat. Suddenly, a dry crack and the weight of a trunk fell on them.
“We heard a crack and a second later we had the eucalyptus trunk on top of us. I managed to get up, but Sumaya stayed crouched and it hit her squarely on the neck and back,” recounts Sheila, still shocked in her home. The branch, almost the size of a complete tree, split the metal bench they were sitting on in half.
The impact left Sumaya unconscious. Sheila tried to lift the trunk unsuccessfully, and it was the firefighters from the Martiricos station who managed to remove it after receiving the alert at 15:32 hours. The Local Police and emergency services also participated in the intervention.
Sumaya remains in the intensive care unit of the Regional Hospital, awaiting surgery. “She has both scapulas broken and one of them has punctured her lung,” details her mother, Asmaa Ghanou, a resident of La Palma, who claims that “she is alive by a miracle.” The young woman had just started working as an administrator at a driving school and “was very excited.”
Sheila, who has injuries to her back, neck, and face, insists that “we are alive by a miracle.” Local residents claim that this is not the first time a branch has fallen from these eucalyptus trees and that they have been calling the City Council for three years to inspect the trees.
“The tree in front of my house is falling apart, but they don’t come to prune or do anything,” criticises a resident of the block. Last year, another branch fell, she emphasises.
From the Parks and Gardens service of the Málaga City Council, it has been stated that the tree “did not show any noticeable damage and was classified as having a low risk of falling, following a review conducted in October 2025.” In any case, the causes of the structural failure will be investigated, and the rest of the trees in the area will be inspected.
Asmaa Ghanou, who remains in constant contact with the doctors, denounces that “what fell on my daughter is not a branch, it is almost a whole tree.” The family hopes that the surgery will be successful, while municipal services analyse the condition of the other eucalyptus trees in the coming days to prevent a similar accident from happening again.
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