A Sri Lankan worker died after falling from a tree inside the premises of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh on Saturday. The worker, who could not immediately be identified, reportedly rushed into the embassy around 4 p.m. on Thursday, while the mission’s staff were getting ready to go home.

An eyewitness said the victim had climbed the tree to run away from someone who he thought had been chasing him. The witness did not see anyone enter after him.

The worker refused to get down from the tree despite several requests. “The bigger the crowd got, the further up the tree he went,” an embassy official said. “He finally fell to his death after stepping onto a flimsy branch that snapped.”