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Hawaii News

Maui girl dies while hiking on trail at Haleakala park

STAR-ADVERTISER

An 8-year-old Lahaina girl was killed Tuesday afternoon in a rockslide in Haleakala National Park, county officials said.

Park spokesman Nav Singh said the incident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. as the child was hiking with family along the Pipiwai Trail.

He didn’t know exactly where they were on the trail, but said they were on the mauka side of Piilani Highway, away from the coastal freshwater pools known as the Seven Sacred Pools.

Park officials closed the trail after the incident, he said. He did not have further details.

Cheryl Vasconcellos, executive director of Hana Health, the only medical facility in the Hana district, said that the girl’s injuries were severe and that she died at the scene. An ambulance brought the girl and her parents to the clinic.

"We have been doing the best we can to help comfort the parents at this time," Vasconcellos said. "It’s really been a horrible, horrible tragedy."

She said no one else was treated at the clinic for injuries from the rockslide.

Most visitors to the park take the Pipiwai Trail, which follows a stream through Oheo Gulch, according to the park’s website. According to frommers.com, the scenic trail leads to 400-foot Waimoku Falls, one of the five best waterfalls in Hawaii.

The National Park Service website warns visitors about the gulch’s stream, which can be unpredictable and flood quickly.

Two people recently died while at the coastal freshwater pools in Oheo Gulch.

Kevin Oakley died in 2003 while trying to save his 7-year-old son, who was washed out to sea but later rescued.

The federal government paid Oakley’s family $2 million. Since Oakley’s death the park service began closing the pools when the current is dangerous.

Xina Wang drowned in 2002 after a current dragged her into the ocean in the same area. Her family was awarded $2.3 million.

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