KUALA LUMPUR: Falling tree incidents nationwide have claimed 50 lives and left 243 people injured out of a total of 26,001 cases recorded between 2021 and June this year.
Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) director-general Datuk Seri Nor Hisham Mohammad said the number of cases had remained consistently high each year, with 1,912 incidents recorded in the first six months of this year alone, resulting in four deaths and 20 injuries.
In view of the continuing threat to public safety, he urged local authorities and premises owners to conduct regular tree safety audits.
"JBPM therefore fully supports the implementation of tree safety assessments, particularly in high-risk areas such as major roads, schools, hospitals, public parks, residential areas and other locations frequented by the public.
"These inspections should be carried out by qualified officers or experts to assess the condition of the trunk, branches, canopy, root system, degree of lean, as well as the impact of development activities around the trees concerned,” he told reporters after officiating the 2026 Fire and Rescue Games (Sukbom) in Seri Petaling here on Thursday (Aug 6).
Nor Hisham said systematic tree safety audits would enable early signs of structural failure to be detected before accidents threatening lives or damaging public property occur.
For trees identified as high risk, he advised that immediate action be taken, including pruning, treatment, the installation of support systems or controlled felling.
On the causes of falling tree incidents, he said prolonged rainfall, particularly during the inter-monsoon period, could cause the soil to become saturated, thereby reducing the stability of tree root systems.
Nor Hisham said extreme weather, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, was the main trigger for branches to snap or trees to fall suddenly, with the situation further aggravated by physical factors such as ageing, disease, decay or weak structural integrity.
He added that trees planted in landscaped areas were at a higher risk of falling than naturally grown trees, as their root systems tended to spread laterally due to differences in the original soil structure.
Although the number of cases fluctuated, reaching a high of 5,232 in 2024 before declining to 4,488 last year, emergency calls related to falling trees remained consistently high at between 4,400 and 5,200 annually, he said.- Bernama
