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A 7-year-old Georgia girl was killed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Wednesday after a tree fell on her tent during the early hours of the morning while she was sleeping.
A large red maple fell around 12:30 a.m., and emergency responders from Gatlinburg Fire Department, Gatlinburg Police Department and the National Park Service all responded to the site.
“The other family members, including father and two siblings, were not injured,” a statement released by the National Park Service said.
The campsite was located on the Tennessee side of the national park, between Townsend and Gatlinburg, and is now closed. Surrounding campsites are also closed. These incidents are not considered common in the Great Smoky Mountains.
In 2021, it was reported by Smokey Mountains News that “crashes accounted for 43.6% of the 101 deaths recorded over those 13 years. Medical deaths — someone dying from a heart attack while on Park Service land, for example — were the second most common cause of death for both the Smokies and the Parkway, at 14.9% and 7.5%, respectively.”
Parkway spokesperson Leesa Brandon told the local news outlet that crashes are common in the Great Smokey Mountains due to people getting caught up looking at the view.
“I think a lot of it is inherent just to the Parkway, being a beautiful scenic drive but also a drive that requires a different approach to attention when you’re in the driver’s seat,” Brandon said.
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