After the tragic incident in Plovdiv, in which a man was killed by a branch that fell on him, the director of the Municipal Enterprise "Gardens and Parks" Anton Georgiev has been dismissed from his post. The mayor of the "Severen" district, Ventsislava Lyubenova, signed the order, Nova TV reports.
We recall that the fatal incident occurred on Saturday. A 78-year-old man died after being crushed by a fallen branch while sitting on a bench.
The deceased's family announced that they would sue the Municipality, accusing it of negligence and lack of control. According to relatives, the alley had been dangerous to cross for a long time, but the Municipality had repeatedly ignored signals about the risk of fallen branches. The deceased man's wife, Elena Bogutlieva, was adamant that she would sue the Municipality.
„I want retribution. They killed my husband with their negligence”, she also said. Elena also said that her husband had been visiting the garden and walking along this alley for years. However, on the unfortunate day, the man was alone.
„When you don't pay your tax, they fine you, right? But what can I say that they killed my husband? I'll just sue them. It's not about the money. Maybe if the municipality pays me something, I'll give half to charity”, she also said.
The mayor of Plovdiv Kostadin Dimitrov said that the problem is organizational. Dimitrov pointed out that the tree from which the branch fell was healthy and there was no order for it to be pruned or removed.
„The tree from which the branch broke off was at sanitary maturity. There is no order for it to be pruned or removed”, he pointed out.
„There is a problem overall. The city's green system is morally outdated, the trees are quite old”, added the deputy mayor for ecology of the „North“ district Tsvetomir Tsvetkov.
The Municipality also explains that there are hundreds of signals about dangerous trees and the process of removing them is difficult.
Meanwhile, residents of the “Severen“ district claim that the danger has been known for a long time, and local resident Vladimir Iliev personally reported the dangerous trees.
"Every second tree is affected by a destructive fungus. It only affects dead wood. If it is present, the fungus means that there is also dead wood", said Iliev.
The Municipality promises urgent inspections of all trees along the Maritsa River and the removal of dangerous branches. The prosecutor's office is investigating the causes of the tragedy.