A 26-year-old youth died after being hit by a branch of an uprooted tree on KP Road, in the Hastings area, on Friday night.

Police said Sayan Mukherjee, a resident of Sodepur, was riding his two-wheeler when a tree suddenly got uprooted and fell around 9.30pm.

No one saw him lying trapped under a huge branch till disaster management personnel started cutting the tree.

“We realised that the tree had to be removed immediately and that could only be done by a specialist team of the police,” said an officer of Hastings police station.

“So, we alerted the tree-cutting team of the disaster management group of the city police.”

Officers said they couldn’t find any reason why the tree suddenly fell. There were no strong winds and the tree was not tilted.

The area around the tree was cordoned off after disaster management personnel reached the spot with cutters and choppers.

“It was only after some of the branches were removed that we saw a body under a two-wheeler. He was faintly breathing,” the officer said.

The youth, who suffered face, chest and arm injuries, was taken to SSKM Hospital. Sayan died around 2.45am.