Vacationing Couple Sues After Branch Falls on Them

Russell Narahara and his wife Beverly were vacationing in Waikiki when an eight-foot long banyan tree limb dropped on them while shopping. The couple sustained serious injuries. Beverly suffered a fractured skull and large cut on her head while Russell suffered a multiple-fractured hip. Russell has been hospitalized for four months in California due to his injuries, with no known release date.

The Narahara’s are suing the owners of the International Marketplace, where the accident took place, for negligence. Their attorney, Wayne Kekina, remarked, “Queen Emma Land Company needlessly endangered the safety of the public by failing to exercise reasonable care in monitoring and maintaining this banyan tree.” Kekina also reported that the tree is in a special registry, which requires a city permit for trimming. The last permit to trim the tree was issued in 2010, and that the limb was dead for at least two years.

The eight-foot limb was brought down during high winds. The limb was roughly three inches in diameter and fell more than eighty feet before it struck the couple. Kekina remarked that the tree should have been trimmed at least annually because it is located in a marketplace that is consistently crowded with people.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/18743088/couple-sue-over-fallen-waikiki-tree-branch