A huge redwood tree fell and killed a man visiting Muir Woods national monument park in California on Christmas Eve, authorities said on Thursday.

Subhradeep Dutta, 28, of Edina, Minnesota, died while walking on a marked dirt trail with two other people in the park north of San Francisco famous for its towering trees, according to the Marin county coroner’s office and a spokesman for the park.

Dutta was pinned by the trunk of the 200ft (61-meters) tree and was pronounced dead at the scene. The trunk measured more than 4ft (1.22 meters) in diameter.

A woman injured by falling debris was taken to the hospital for treatment. A man hiking with the group escaped injury.

The tree fell following a series of winter storms over the past two weeks.

A trail closure sign at the entrance to Muir Woods. Photograph: AP

“This is a very rare, an isolated event that may have occurred due to wet ground from recent winter storms, around the roots of the tree,” a park spokesman, Charles Strickfaden, said in an email.

“The National Park Service extends its thoughts and prayers to all those involved,” he wrote.

Almost a million visitors visit the park each year. It remained open on Thursday and only the areas affected by debris from the fallen tree were closed to the public.