4 Students Hospitalized After Being Struck By Branch On Penn State's Abington Campus
ABINGTON, Pa. (CBS) - Four students from Penn State's Abington Campus are injured on the first day of classes.
A large tree branch crashed down injuring the students Monday afternoon on the 1600 block of Woodland Road.
"He was sitting right next to me and he was grabbing my hand. My hand got all bloody because of his face."
Still in shock and disbelief, looking at the tree branch that missed him by inches, the eyewitness asked to remain anonymous. His two friends weren't so fortunate. They were hit in the head and back.
"The guy had a major concussion. He was bruised all over his face, all over his back, pretty big scars and the girl as well, her back was pretty bad."
Sgt. Chris Porter with the Abington Township Police Department added, "We spoke briefly with the victims and they said without warning, the tree limb fell and fell on top of them."
According to police, all four students were immediately taken to Abington Memorial Hospital for treatment.
"Their injuries don't appear to be life-threatening," Sgt. Porter explained.
It happened on the first day of classes at Penn State Abington in an area the students refer to as the 'Duck Pond'.
Samantha Lauro, a sophomore said, "A lot of people just come out here to lunch, study, socialize."
Rebecca Tamarkin, a junior added, "It's terrible. It's definitely something scary."
Some students, including the student whose two friends are now home recovering from their injuries, wonder if this could have been prevented, "There always has been problems especially with high winds around here but it seems like they never want to take care of it so that's what happens."
University officials responded to the incident in a statement:
"At approximately 3:15p today, a group of four students were struck by a branch that fell from a tree on campus. All of the students required some form of medical treatment. All were taken to Abington Memorial Hospital. Within minutes of the incident, campus medical staff were there, followed by 2nd alarmers and Abington Police. The University regularly evaluates the condition of the trees on its campuses; the most recent review at Penn State Abington was conducted this summer. A thorough review of this accident will be conducted in the coming weeks."
Reported by Elizabeth Hur, CBS 3
