A 29-year-old man died Monday (January 4) after being crushed by a large branch while cutting a tree in North Kohala.
He has been identified as Andrew A. Ankner, who has no permanent address.
Ankner was trimming a tree on property on Keokea Park Road. At approximately 3:20 p.m., while he was up in the tree approximately 20 feet from the ground, a branch he had cut fell on him and pinned him in a fork of the tree.
Fire Department personnel extricated him from the tree and he was flown North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced dead at 7:56 p.m.
The case was initially classified as a public accident. It was later reclassified to a coroner’s inquest.
An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.