Deadly scene: A worker removes the collapsed trunk and branches.

The Leisure & Cultural Services Department has expressed its deepest condolences to the family of a teenage girl who died after part of an old and valuable tree in Stanley collapsed on her. The department has pledged to step up monitoring of such trees in the wake of the incident.

The coral tree, or Erythrina variegata, was over 100 years old and was on the register of old and valuable trees. After Typhoon Nuri swept through Hong Kong, the department followed standard procedures, inspecting all old and valuable trees in Hong Kong -  including this coral tree - last Saturday. The tree was upright, and its root system showed no sign of having been shifted by strong winds. It had no broken branches and staff could see no potential danger from the tree.

The department has asked a tree expert group, made up of individuals from outside government with extensive tree knowledge, to investigate to identify the cause of the tree's partial collapse. The department will remove the entire tree as soon as possible, and began a thorough inspection of nearby trees right after the incident.

Six-month, weekly inspections

The department conducts a detailed inspection of every registered old and valuable tree once every six months. In between, they are inspected once a week to check for diseases, wounds or inflicted damage.

The coral tree had been inspected on July 31 this year, including a sonar check on the trunk's structure and a search for pests and diseases. The tree's general condition was deemed acceptable. The department will study whether the tree's partial collapse may have been triggered by the typhoon.