A woman has died while hiking in Cupertino, California, after being hit by a falling tree. The accident happened in Rancho San Antonio Park on Sunday morning.
The woman was on an expedition with her son and several other members of his Boy Scout troop, plus their parents. The were intending to hike a five-mile route often known as the PG&E Trail due to the overhead power cables.
It's a particularly popular trail of hiking, running, and birding, and several Scout troops were in the area at the time.
CBS Bay Area reports that the tree fell around 3.5 miles from the parking lot, and the first call to emergency services was made just after 10am. The other parents attempted to lift the tree off the woman, but were unable to shift it more than a little.
Rescue attempts
"There were three people on my side and two people on the other side. We were trying to think on our toes real quick and trying to see if we could lift the log that's on her body, see if we could lift it up a little bit so she could breathe," said one father.
"We tried lifting it. We lifted it a little bit, enough so that there was a clearance and we put a rock underneath so that it wasn't touching the body. That was the best we could do."
Firefighters were able to pull the victim from under the tree, but sadly she passed away at the scene.
An investigation is underway to determine why the tree fell, but authorities have warned people to take care in wooded areas after the ground has been saturated by heavy rainfall.
