3 dead after high winds topple tree during Easter Egg hunt in Germany

Three people, including a woman and her 10-month-old daughter, were killed Sunday in northern Germany after high winds toppled a large tree during an Easter egg hunt, the police said.

The dead were among a group of about 50 residents and staff members from a nearby welfare facility and group home who had been searching for Easter eggs in a wooded area near Satrupholm, a village in the municipality of Mittelangeln, the police said in a statement.

Around 11 a.m., a strong gust of wind toppled the nearly 100-foot tree, trapping four people, including a 16-year-old girl and a 21-year-old woman and her baby daughter, the police said. The woman and 16-year-old died at the scene and the infant was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the police said. An 18-year-old woman who had been trapped under the tree was flown to a nearby hospital with serious injuries, the police said. Several other people sustained minor injuries.

The welfare facility, SterniPark, is state-funded and supports pregnant women, parents and children, according to its website. The group home near the site of the accident supports pregnant women and young mothers and fathers who need help caring for their children, it said in an email. SterniPark operates more than 25 day care centers in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, it said.

“A tragic accident occurred during an Easter Sunday outing, deeply shocking the entire SterniPark community,” the welfare group said in a statement. The group thanked the fire and police departments as well as emergency responders at the scene.

“The residents, children, young people, relatives and staff now need time and all our support to process this terrible tragedy,” the group said.

The area had been under a high-wind warning, according to Deutscher Wetterdienst, the German meteorological service. Photographs from local news media showed colorful Easter eggs scattered among leaves beneath the fallen tree.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.