A few weeks ago, some employees from the city of Oudenaarde went to the Ardennes region. There they chose a beautiful tree to display in the market this year. To avoid errors, the selected fir trees are marked by city services. This way, one would be sure not to cut down the wrong tree and take it to the Flemish Ardennes region. However, things went completely wrong from day one.

When city services wanted to start installing and decorating on Wednesday, November 22, it turned out that the truck from Arden had brought the wrong tree. This spruce had a double box and was also damaged in transit. Getting a new tree was not an option, as that would cause too much delay.

Just a few days later, the 20-meter-high, 5-ton tree collapsed. There was still laughter about it at the time. People even came to take pictures as tourists do at the Tower of Pisa. The city was briefly concerned about stability, but the technical department solved the problem. In a few minutes they straightened the mast again. Finally it can be about how beautiful the tree is and how beautifully it is decorated. But the worst is yet to come.

See photos of the tree falling here

Thursday, December 21, roughly a month after the Christmas tree was delivered. The Christmas market continues as usual. Storm Pia has predicted some stormy weather, but no one can doubt that things will go terribly wrong. At around 7pm, the 20-metre-high tree was blown away by the wind. Two people were slightly injured, but one woman’s condition was worse. She is still being resuscitated, but all help comes too late. The woman dies under the Christmas tree.

It has now been decided that the Oudenaarde Christmas Market will close its doors permanently.