Totem pole falls, killing boy at Boy Scout camp

updated 6:23 p.m. ET June 18, 2007

LOYSVILLE, Pa. - A 13-foot totem pole fell over and struck a boy on the first day of Boy Scout camp, killing the 9-year-old, state police said Monday.

Tyler O. Shope, of Shermans Dale, died of head and chest injuries Sunday afternoon, Perry County Coroner Michael Shalonis said.

The boy's parents were nearby when the pole fell at around 3:15 p.m., and his father helped lift it off him, Shalonis said. No one else was injured.

Campers were arriving at the Hidden Valley Boy Scout Camp near Loysville, about 25 miles northwest of Harrisburg, for a week of camping, state police said.

The boy was waiting outside the camp's health lodge to have his health records reviewed at the time of the accident, The Patriot-News of Harrisburg reported.

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