Two Children Killed At Yosemite Campground, Tree Limb Fell Onto Tent While They Slept

Two children have been killed at the Upper Pines Campground in Yosemite after a tree limb fell onto their tent as they were sleeping. Officials say the large tree limb broke away at around 5:00 a.m. on Friday morning and landed on the minors’ tent, killing the two children.

The LA Times reports that two minors were killed while camping at the Upper Pines Campground in the Yosemite Valley, which is a popular destination for families. However, at 5:00 a.m. on Friday morning, a large tree limb broke from a black oak tree and fell on top of the youngsters’ tent. Officials received numerous 911 calls following the incident, but say that the two minors were declared dead at the scene.

When speaking about the tragic incident, Yosemite park officials note that it is not uncommon for tree branches such as the one that killed the minors to fall from trees across the park.

“Fallen branches like this one are a common occurrence across the park.”

Though falling branches are common, it was noted that wind and the ongoing California drought may have been a contributing factor in this particular tree-branch incident. According to the Daily Mail, park officials have not released the ages or names of the two victims, but note that both of the deceased were under the age of 18.

Sadly, this is not the first death in Yosemite National Park from a falling tree branch. In fact, in 1985 two people were killed and nine injured when a black oak tree branch fell onto an open-air tram in the park. Similarly, in 1992 a large tree branch fell onto a tour bus near the Yosemite Falls. The incident left nine people injured. The most recent death at Yosemite due to a tree branch was in 2012 when a branch fell onto a concession worker’s tent cabin during a windstorm.

It isn’t just tree branches causing people to question taking a camping trip to Yosemite. As the Inquisitr previously reported, a young boy visiting the park contracted the plague while camping in the area. Following the human plague case and the finding of squirrels with the plague, Yosemite has closed at least one of its campgrounds to spray for fleas.

Do you think the death of the two children by the falling tree branch and the plague scare in Yosemite will slow tourism to the area?

[Image Credit: TripAdvisor]