MUIR WOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT PARK, Calif. (AP) — 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 (60.96-meters)-tall tree and was pronounced dead at the scene. The trunk measured more than 4 feet (1.22 meters) 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 email.
“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.
President-elect Joe Biden received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island has erupted and there were reports of lava fountains shooting about 165 feet into the sky.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
The U.S. stands on the verge of adding a second vaccine to its arsenal as the coronavirus outbreak descends deeper into its most lethal phase yet.
The legislative branch of government is rapidly moving to receive the coronavirus vaccine, with both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell getting the shot on Friday.
Florida is now using trained dogs to sniff out troublesome pythons. Truman is a python-hunting black Labrador retriever that recently tracked down his first snake as part of a new Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission program.
As the second wave of COVID-19 sweeps the U.S., frontline doctors are reliving the worst of the pandemic. Cheddar's Michelle Castillo finds out how doctors are coping.
The Trump administration has relaxed a regulation restricting water flow from showerheads — something that was a pet peeve of President Trump, who complained that he wanted more water to make his hair “perfect.”
Dr. Ashwini Zenooz, chief medical officer at Salesforce, discusses teaming up with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to help distribute COVID vaccines equitably throughout the world.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams told Cheddar Tuesday that recent vaccine developments have made him "incredibly optimistic" that the end of the pandemic is in sight.
