13-year-old girl dies in hammock accident

DES MOINES, Ia.— A 13-year-old girl died Saturday when a brick pillar collapsed onto the hammock she and her sister were sharing outside their Des Moines home, according to a police report.

Peri Sagun, 13, had set up the hammock with her 16-year-old sister outside their house, tying one end to a tree and the other end to a 5-foot-tall brick light post, the report states.

Peri jumped in the hammock while her sister was sitting on it, and the brick light post collapsed on top of her head.

Her sister ran to the house, yelling for her father, who tried to do CPR and first aid on his daughter until emergency responders arrived, according to the report.

Peri was rushed to Mercy Medical Center, where she died at 12:52 p.m.

Police officers said it appeared that the brick column supporting the hammock was only placed several inches in the ground, with no reinforcement.

The rectangular-shaped pillar was about 2-square-feet wide, made entirely of bricks.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Iles Funeral Home in Des Moines.

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