7-Year-Old Girl Swinging in Hammock Killed When Tree Uproots: It Is a 'Tragic Accident'

Sabina Surjit Henderson, a 7-year-old girl from Virginia, was killed on Saturday when a tree toppled over and struck her as she swung in a hammock at a family gathering, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office confirms to PEOPLE.

The second grade student from Brambleton and her 8-year-old cousin were being pushed by another child when the tree the hammock was tied to uprooted and fell on top of them. Emergency personnel responded to the scene shortly after 6 p.m. local time, and Sabina was airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Annandale.

“The 7-year-old female received life-threatening injuries,” Kraig Troxell of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office tells PEOPLE. “She was airlifted from the scene and later succumbed to those injuries and passed away on Saturday.”

The 8-year-old boy, who was transported to the hospital by ambulance, received non-life-threatening injuries and has since been released, Troxell adds.

Both children were visiting the property — an 1870s farmhouse that is now used as a bed and breakfast in Purcellville, FOX 5 reported — for a family celebration.

“It’s my understanding that it was the grandparent’s property, that it was a celebration for the grandfather, and it was a family gathering at that house,” Troxell says.

They had been playing on the hammock throughout the day, with relatives close by.

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office believes that the rainy weather the region has experienced recently could have played a part in weakening the tree’s foundation. The tree was also “very old,” Troxell notes.

“All indications are that this is a tragic accident,” he explains. “There have been some questions about whether rain played a factor. I think there’s probably a couple of factors, but the ground is very soft right now.”

In a statement to NBC 4, Sabina’s father, Ben Henderson, described his daughter as an intelligent and humorous girl who brightened up the lives of all who knew her.

“Sabina was smart, witty girl who loved to tell jokes and make other people laugh,” Henderson, who did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, said in his statement to the news station.

“She was a powerful personality that lit up the room and was a memorable force for all those that met her. She was amazingly kind and thoughtful to her friends and family. Sabina was genuinely and completely loved by all that knew her. Her loss tore a giant hole in our lives that will never be mended. We will never recover from this, we will only survive.”

The family is holding a memorial service for Sabina on September 28 in Brambleton.