Seven-year-old girl is killed when tree falls on camping family’s tent at Georgia national park

The girl’s father and two siblings escaped uninjured, authorities say

A seven-year-old Georgia girl died when a large maple tree fell on her family’s tent in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee early on Wednesday morning.

Rangers were called to the Elkmont Campground at around 12.30am after the two-meter wide red maple fell on a tent where the girl was sleeping with her father and two siblings, the National Park Service (NPS) said in a statement.

The other family members were uninjured.

Officers from Gatlinburg Fire Department, Gatlinburg Police Department and the National Park Service responded to the scene. No further details were immediately available.

The campsites around the area where the tree fell have been closed, but the Elkmont Campground remains open, the NPS said.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park attracts more than 14 million recreational visitors in 2021, the second most popular in the US, according to NPS figures.

Last Thursday, 9-year-old Hallie Oldham died when a tree brought down by strong winds hit a car where she had been taking shelter with her family at the Sebago Lake Campground in Maine.

Two large pine trees were uprooted in a severe thunderstorm, with one striking the awning of the family’s camper and crushing it, authorities said.

The second tree struck the roof of the vehicle where Hallie, her younger sister, and mother were taking cover.