LANESBORO (AP) -- There was only a crackling sound to warn the nine people on a scenic trail ride that an elm tree more than three stories tall was about to fall on their low-sided wagon. The crash killed one man and injured two others in the freak accident.

"It's just a pure accident, really unfortunate," Fillmore County Sheriff Jim Connolly said Thursday. "It just caught the wagon. There was nobody working on it (the tree). It just fell."

Officials said Marty Quandt, 53, of Rochester died at the scene late Wednesday morning. The injured with taken to Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester. A spokeswoman said a man was treated and released. She would not release information about an injured woman.

Connolly said the tree trunk was solid, but there was decay at the roots. He said weather was not a factor. "It was a beautiful day," he said.

The group was with PossAbilities of Rochester, an outreach group for people with developmental disabilities. Quandt, who had Down syndrome, lived with the group for the past 16 years, said Vicki Dearth, a marketing director there

"Marty was a very gentle, caring type man," she said. "He was very friendly, very well liked by everyone."

The nine people were in the last wagon of a small train being pulled by trucks along the Root River Trail bicycle trail near Lanesboro in southeastern Minnesota. Six of the riders were disabled and three were staff members. None of the staff members were hurt when the tree fell.

The annual ride was started 11 years ago to give seniors and disabled people a chance to ride the trails, said executive director Bruce Hartert of the Southeastern Minnesota Citizens Action Council, a community action agency based in Rushford that co-sponsors the ride with the Department of Natural Resources.