A 2-year-old boy was killed and his mother was critically injured when a powerful tornado uprooted a tree that fell on their home in suburban Detroit on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
The “massive” tree crashed through the roof and landed on a bed where the pair were sleeping in Livonia, Michigan, the city said in a statement on its website. Rescue crews toiled for almost an hour to remove the roof and lift the tree with high-pressure air bags in order to pull the victims out.
The toddler succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement added, while the mother was taken to the Livonia Trinity Hospital in critical condition.
ADVERTISEMENT
“This is a terrible tragedy for our community,” Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan said. “Our hearts are broken, too, and we send our deepest sympathies.”
Livonia Fire Department Chief Robert Johnson told WDIV-TV a 2-week-old infant was also in a crib in a separate room in the house who was not injured but was nevertheless also taken to the hospital.
He also described the efforts to save the mother—who has not been named—at the “traumatic” scene, where she and her child were pinned by the tree.
“She remained conscious throughout most of the extrication,” Johnson said. “She was being treated by our paramedics while she was impinged by the tree.”
