Massive redwood tree falls and kills hiker in California park
A man was killed and another person injured by a massive redwood tree that fell inside a California national park, in what officials have described as an “unfortunate, tragic event” that occurred on Christmas Eve.
Subhradeep Dutta, a 28-year-old Minnesota resident, was visiting the Muir Woods National Monument when a tree measuring over four feet (one metre) in diameter collapsed.
Mr Dutta was reportedly with two other visitors at the time the tree fell onto a hiking path at around sunset, approximately 30 minutes before the park closed for the night.
“These were visitors exactly where they are allowed to be," Charles Strickfaden, a spokesperson for the National Park Service, told reporters in a statement. “It just seems to be an unfortunate, tragic event.”
One visitor escaped injury, officials said, while another one of the visitors with Mr Dutta was taken to a local hospital. Their condition has not been reported.
Witnesses told local news station KPIX-TV they heard a “colossal noise” and watched the tree fall towards the hiking path.
“I initially thought it was like an earthquake or something,” Alex Shepard, who was visiting the park on Tuesday with his mother, told the news outlet. “I had no idea. I had never heard a sound like that.”
Mr Strickfaden said in an email to the Associated Press that the tree’s roots may have been weakened by recent winter storms.
He wrote: “This is a very rare and isolated event that may have occurred due to wet ground from recent winter storms, around the roots of the tree.”
An estimated one million visitors flock to the national park — known for its large trees and breathtaking hikes — each year, according to the National Park Service.
The service announced it was launching an investigation into the incident. Much of the park was reopened by Christmas Day.
