MUIR WOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT PARK, Calif. – A huge redwood tree fell and killed a man visiting Muir Woods National Monument Park in California on Christmas Eve, authorities said 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 200-foot-tall tree and was pronounced dead at the scene. The trunk measured more than 4 feet 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, and isolated event that may have occurred due to wet ground from recent winter storms, around the roots of the tree," park spokesman Charles Strickfaden said in an e-mail.
"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 Thursday and only the areas affected by debris from the fallen tree were closed to the public.
