An 11-year-old girl died early Tuesday at a southeastern Indiana summer camp when a tree fell on her cabin during a severe storm, according to camp officials.
Officials at Camp Livingston, a Jewish overnight camp in Bennington, Indiana, confirmed the death in a Facebook post Tuesday. A healthy tree was struck by lightning and fell on the cabin, killing the 11-year-old, they said.
Livingston Camp officials and the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati gave a short update around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday about the 11-year-old camper.
A tree was struck by lightning at approximately 3 a.m. and fell into a cabin with the deceased camper, three adult camp counselors and other campers inside, camp representative Jeff Goldstein said. Emergency responders arrived minutes later.
Goldstein said the camp will not be releasing name of the victim out of respect for the family.
No other campers or staff were injured. Parents of the other campers were informed in a Tuesday email that was later released to the public:
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we want to inform you that an 11 year-old female camper was seriously injured around 3 a.m. when a healthy tree was struck by lightning and fell on a cabin at camp during a severe storm. Emergency services arrived shortly after the accident, but she did not survive her injuries,” camp officials said in the letter to parents. “The family was notified immediately. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
“As we share this sad news with you, all of the campers and staff are being notified of this occurrence. A team of grief counselors from the Cincinnati community will be arriving to camp shortly and will be joining our team in assisting campers and staff.
“We understand that you may want to get in touch with your child to see how he/she is coping and we are committed to doing our utmost to facilitate requests. Every child in camp will be calling home today beginning around 10 a.m. – we appreciate your help, patience and understanding as we assist the children through this tragedy.”
