Scout leader: Storms kill boy, woman in northern Minnesota

ELY, Minn. – A boy and a woman camping with a Boy Scouts adventure program were killed and two other campers were injured when severe storms swept through a northern Minnesota forest, the leader of the program said Thursday.

The boy and the woman volunteering with the Northern Tier High Adventure Base Program died while camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, according to general manager John Van Dreese.

Strong storms that moved through parts of Minnesota early Thursday knocked down trees and power lines.

The two injured campers were evacuated from the wilderness area in the Superior National Forest by air, according to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office.

Nine people, including three adults and six boys, were part of the program and were camping near Basswood Lake at the Canadian border when the storms hit. Sheriff’s officials and other emergency responders were working on evacuating the rest of the group from the wilderness area, Van Dreese said.

Authorities provided no details of how the two were killed.