12-year-old North Carolina girl killed in zip line accident

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Saturday, June 13, 2015
12-year-old girl killed in camp accident
A Wilmington girl died Thursday in an accident at a YMCA summer camp in the North Carolina mountains.

ALLEGHANY COUNTY, N.C. -- A Wilmington girl died Thursday in an accident at a YMCA summer camp in the North Carolina mountains.

It happened at Camp Cheerio in Glade Valley in Alleghany County, which is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Officials said the young girl fell while zip-lining when the tether that connected the harness around her waist to the pulley above broke.

Camp CEO David Ozmore says the zip line has been in operation for two years. Ozmore said it works on dual lines and there has never been a problem before, and it appeared the lines may have tangled.

He said the child, whose name has not been released, was staying at the camp for a week and had been coming there for several years.

There are about 400 children at the camp and grief counselors have been sent in to assist.

Camp Cheerio is a resident camp of the YMCA of High Point.