14-year-old Scout Scaravilli and her 12-year-old sister Chasey died Sunday evening after being crushed to death by falling bricks in the backyard of their home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
The two girls were lying in a backyard hammock, tied to a brick pillar and a tree, when the pillar collapsed, crushing them with nearly 1,000 pounds of brick and stone, Fox News reported. Police Chief Annette Mecklenburg said that the police and fire department responded to the incident after a call made Sunday at 7:45 p.m.
First responders were able to free the girls from the debris, and they received immediate treatment before being transported by a rescue squad to an area hospital, Fox 8 Cleveland reported. However, both were pronounced dead several hours later. (RELATED: Search For Two Missing Idaho Kids Reveals Human Remains Found At Stepfather’s House)
Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy and determined the identity of the two girls. Scout was a rising ninth grader and Chasey was a rising seventh grader, both at the all-girls college preparatory Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Freak hammock accident kills Ohio sisters, 12 and 14 https://t.co/SIZR9zOfPS pic.twitter.com/7dLvxEhyJc
— New York Post (@nypost) June 16, 2020
“The entire HB community is saddened by the loss of the Scaravilli sisters; they will be greatly missed by so many friends, classmates, and teachers,” Head of School Fran Bisselle said in a statement published on the school’s website Monday. “Our thoughts and prayers are dedicated to their family.”
Students, parents, and faculty members had gathered on campus Monday evening for an informal gathering to remember the victims, a spokesperson told Fox 8 Cleveland. The spokesperson also said that Hathaway Brown was making plans to provide grief counseling for students and parents.
Cleveland Heights police told local news Monday that the incident is still under investigation.