Google Engineer, 29, Killed In Freak Accident While Hiking In Yosemite National Park

Angela Lin, a 29-year-old Google software engineer, was killed by a falling tree branch while hiking with her boyfriend, David Hua, in Yosemite National Park's Tuolumne Grove, Fortune reported. The incident happened on July 19, when Ms Lin and her boyfriend, David Hua, along with two friends, were exploring the popular Tuolumne Grove hiking trail to admire the giant sequoias. Suddenly, the group heard a loud cracking sound. As the branches of a tree came crashing down, Mr Hua closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he saw Ms Lin lying on the ground face-up with blood pooling around her head.

Mr Hua immediately called 911 and performed CPR until a park ranger arrived to take over. An ambulance soon arrived, but Lin was not taken inside. Emergency personnel later informed Mr Hua that the falling branch caused fatal head injuries, killing his girlfriend instantly.

"Two to three seconds later, branches fell out of the sky. One big branch struck Angela, and then there were a bunch of smaller ones directly behind me," Mr Hua told SF Gate. 

"It was just unimaginable that something like this could occur. On such a popular trail, too," he added.  

The National Park Service closed the trail for about a week but has not released an official statement, and the incident remains under investigation.

While Ms Lin's family has requested privacy, her boyfriend is seeking answers. He expressed frustration over the lack of communication from park officials, hoping for more clarity on the circumstances surrounding her death.

"We are seeking more information from the park service regarding this incident, especially around trail safety, maintenance and awareness of problematic trees on popular trails, and future prevention of similar incidents," Mr Hua wrote in an email.

Ms Lin had spent the last six years working as an engineer in the San Francisco area, first at Salesforce and then at Google. She had been working at the tech giant since 2022. She earned her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer sciences from UC Berkeley in 2017, followed by a master's degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin in 2019.

A Google spokesperson told Fortune: "We lost a loved and respected member of our team. We're very saddened by this tragedy, and our hearts are with their family and loved ones."