Falling tree flips car

By Sarah Schwager
STORMS caused havoc in Hampton Park on Tuesday when a tree fell onto a passing car crushing the roof and dragging the vehicle off the road.
Strong winds snapped a rotting pine tree from its roots on Pound Road just after 2pm and it came down on top of a four-wheel-drive as it was driving past.
A 29-year-old Narre Warren South man was trapped in his 2000 Holden Jackaroo for an hour when the tree crushed the side and roof of the car and caused it to flip over into the ditch.
Constable Peter O’Donoghue at Cranbourne Police said the man was very lucky to have come out of the incident with no life threatening injuries.
He said the tree crashed into the four-wheel-drive’s roof and caused it to roll as it was dragged along Pound Road near Hallam Road.
Dandenong Rescue along with Hallam and Hampton Park CFA crews were called out to the scene.
When rescuers arrived they found the man trapped inside his four-wheel-drive which was upside down in a gully. Paramedics stabilised the man while rescue operators dismantled and cut away at the vehicle using hydraulic cutting equipment to release him.
The State Emergency Service was also called in to cut and remove the tree from the roadway.
The man was taken by ambulance to The Alfred hospital in a stable condition.