FREETOWN — An enormous tree that towered over Sierra Leone’s capital for hundreds of years and symbolized freedom to its early residents crashed down in a single day throughout a heavy rainstorm.
President Julius Maada Bio referred to as the toppling of the famed tree “a great loss to the nation” as crowds gathered to have a look at the wrecked trunk.
The “Cotton Tree” was crucial landmark within the West African nation which was based by freed American slaves.
It is alleged that once they arrived by boat within the late 1700s, they gathered underneath its branches to supply prayers earlier than shifting into their new house.
The tree went on to look on the nation’s banknotes and be celebrated in youngsters’s nursery rhymes.
“It was regarded as a symbol of liberty and freedom by early settlers,” the president wrote on Twitter.
“We have to see what we are going to do to make sure that we keep the history of this tree here,” he instructed Reuters on the scene. “I want to have a piece of this history wherever I find myself—at the state house, the museum, or city hall.”
Until the storm snapped its 70-meter-tall trunk close to the bottom, the kapok tree stood in the course of a roundabout in central Freetown, its highest branches reaching above the encompassing tower blocks.
Victor Tutu Rogers was one of many final individuals to see the tree standing when he handed it at round 9:40 p.m. (2140 GMT) on Wednesday because the rain and wind intensified.
“I dashed round the cotton tree on my way from work, because I feared the branches might fall,” he stated.
“Shortly after that there was a heavy lightning and I heard a heavy bang – the sound of the tree falling behind me.”
On Thursday morning, diggers cleaned up the wreckage—a sprawling heap of damaged branches and vivid wooden newly uncovered to the air.
Nearby buildings and automobiles appeared to have been broken throughout the fall, although no accidents had been reported.
Freetown’s Chief Administrator, Festus Kallay, stated town held its annual thanksgiving underneath the landmark each November.
“The Freetown skyline will hardly be the same again.” — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
