Teen killed after tree falls on him at B.C. wilderness camp
The camp is located near Sooke, B.C. File photo/Courtesy
A middle school student has died after an accident during a field trip at a wilderness camp in the south end of Vancouver Island on Wednesday afternoon.
The teenage boy had been at Camp Barnard near Sooke, B.C., with his classmates from Lansdowne Middle School on the first day of a three-day trip.
Emergency crews, including an air ambulance, were called to the camp just after 3:30 p.m. PT. Officials with the Otter Point Volunteer Fire Department said someone had reported that a boy was trapped under a tree.
"We were informed that the student tragically lost his life," said Shelley Green, superintendent of the Greater Victoria School District.
BC Emergency Health Services said a second student was taken to hospital in critical but stable condition. On Thursday, Green said that student had been released.
'SADDENED BY THE LOSS'
Green said the name of the student who died is being withheld at his family's request. She said counsellors are available for students and staff.
"It is with deep regret that we inform you about a recent loss to our learning community," Green wrote in a letter posted to the school district's website late Wednesday.
"We are saddened by the loss to our school community."
Green said there were other students from a different school at the camp at the time the student died and that they were taken home Wednesday night.
Other students from Lansdowne are still on overnight camping trips at other sites. The superindendent said those trips will continue and students will be informed about the death as they come home, though their teachers and administrators have been made aware.
Green said the district will conduct a review of what happened.
Any time there's such a tragedy, "we go through that whole process of reviewing everything because, ultimately, our No. 1 concern is always safety," she said during a phone interview Thursday morning.
Camp Barnard is on Otter Point, west of Sooke, a municipality west of Victoria.
The camp, on the shores of Young Lake, is used year-round by youth and adult organizations for camping and day-use activities.
The BC Coroner's Service is investigating. The RCMP did not immediately return CBC News requests for comment.
This article was written for the CBC.
