Update: RCMP say the tree appears to have been toppled by winds. Read the full story here.
- - -
A teenage boy has died after a tree fell on him in the forest at Camp Barnard near Sooke on Wednesday afternoon.
Officials with the Otter Point Volunteer Fire Department, near Sooke, say they responded to Camp Barnard about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday for a report that a boy was trapped under a fallen tree near the Jack Brooks Hatchery.
A second person was taken to hospital in critical condition.
A spokesman for the B.C. Coroners Service confirms an investigation into the death is underway, but few other details are available.
Greater Victoria School District parents were informed of the death Wednesday night in a letter from superintendent Shelley Green.
“This afternoon a student from Lansdowne Middle School died suddenly on a school field trip,” the letter said. Counsellors will be available to students and staff at Lansdowne “who may need or want help or any type of assistance surrounding this loss.”
Lansdowne Middle School is in Saanich, at 1765 Lansdowne Rd. It has about 600 students in Grades 6 to 8.
Camp Barnard, which has been operating for about 70 years, is on 250 acres and offers wilderness experiences for youth and adult groups.
Its facilities include rustic cabins, a dining hall and backcountry tent sites.
- - -
CHEK News report: Lansdowne Middle School student killed
— With a file from The Canadian Press
