(Image source from: wwaytv3.com)

A North Carolina state trooper says a tree fell over a parkway, squashing a vehicle from a South Carolina TV channel and executing a TV anchor and photojournalist.

Master Trooper Murico Stephens says the tree struck the WYFF-TV vehicle around 2:30 p.m. Monday on U.S. Highway 176 near Tryon. The area received heavy rain from the fringes of Subtropical Storm Alberto.

WYFF-TV says anchor Mike McCormick and photojournalist Aaron Smeltzer were heading to a story when they were killed.

Anchor Carol Goldsmith said on air that McCormick and Smeltzer were "beloved members of our team - our family."

The tree fell in Polk County not far from where a landslide killed a woman in her home on May 19 after heavy rains.

By Lokesh