8 children hurt, 3 critically, by falling tree near Pasadena museum

PASADENA, Calif. -- Fire officials in Southern California now say a tree that fell near a children's museum has injured eight kids, three of them critically.

There's no word on what caused the pine to uproot around 5 p.m. Tuesday in Pasadena.

Witnesses say the tree, which is dozens of feet tall, made a cracking sound and came down on children just as a summer day camp at the Kidspace Children's Museum was letting out for the day.

The tree is located in Pasadena's Brookside Park, just outside the museum grounds near the Rose Bowl.

Museum staff, firefighters, parents and police quickly converged on the scene.

Children were loaded onto gurneys and rescuers began cutting the tree limbs apart to see if there were other victims.

The museum says 33 children were attending day camp and all the others have been accounted for.