Hiker killed by huge falling redwood tree in California national park
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Version 0 of 1. Authorities say a 28-year-old became pinned in a ‘very rare’ incident in Muir Woods, famed for its towering trees, on Christmas Eve A huge redwood tree fell and killed a man visiting Muir Woods national monument park in California on Christmas Eve, authorities said on Thursday. Subhradeep Dutta, 28, of Edina, Minnesota, died while walking on a marked dirt trail with two other people in the park north of San Francisco famous for its towering trees, according to the Marin county coroner’s office and a spokesman for the park. Dutta was pinned by the trunk of the 200ft (61-meters) tree and was pronounced dead at the scene. The trunk measured more than 4ft (1.22 meters) in diameter. A woman injured by falling debris was taken to the hospital for treatment. A man hiking with the group escaped injury. The tree fell following a series of winter storms over the past two weeks. “This is a very rare, an isolated event that may have occurred due to wet ground from recent winter storms, around the roots of the tree,” a park spokesman, Charles Strickfaden, said in an email. “The National Park Service extends its thoughts and prayers to all those involved,” he wrote. Almost a million visitors visit the park each year. It remained open on Thursday and only the areas affected by debris from the fallen tree were closed to the public. |