9-year-old boy dies after tree collapses on Massachusetts playground
Wind gusts over 40 mph were recorded near Winthrop Elementary School on Monday when a tree fell on the playground, injuring 2 and killing a student.
Zakaria Bel Qaid, 9. (Image: Bel Qaid family courtesy)
A Massachusetts elementary school student died Monday after a tree collapsed on a playground during gusty conditions.
Police and firefighters in Melrose, Massachusetts, responded shortly after dismissal at Winthrop Elementary School. A tree from a neighboring property fell onto the school’s jungle gym.
Three people were taken to a local hospital. Two were treated and released, but a third student died from injuries.
“It is with great sadness that we share that the student who was seriously injured yesterday afternoon during the incident on the Winthrop School playground has died,” Melrose Public Schools Superintendent Cari Berman and Mayor Jennifer Grigoraitis said in a joint statement.
According to AccuWeather meteorologists, there were no widespread reports of wind damage in Massachusetts on Monday evening, but conditions were breezy. Local weather stations recorded gusts around 40 mph, including a 42-mph gust at Swampscott High School.
Aerial video from WCVB in Boston shows a large tree lying across the jungle gym.
The family said in an Instagram post Tuesday that Zakaria Bel Qaid had just celebrated his 9th birthday.
“He spent his last moments laughing and playing tag with his little sister and her friend,” the family said.
The post continued, “He was fun and incredibly loving, loyal, determined, confident, silly, stubborn and the very best mama’s boy.”
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