Woman, 56, stabbed to death by beach umbrella

A 56-year old woman, Lottie Michelle Belk died after being stabbed in the chest by a windblown umbrella in Virginia Beach, Virginia in the US, last Wednesday. 

"It was pretty windy down here. It kind of looked like something from the Wizard of Oz," boardwalk employee Hugh Martin told local news station WHNT. "[I] saw the umbrella go up in the air, and literally hit the woman, knocking her to the side. It was probably the most scariest thing I've ever seen." 

Eyewitnesses said the woman from Chesterfield, Virginia had been talking to children on the beach when the umbrella, which had been anchored in the sand but was picked up by strong winds, struck Belk in the chest. She was transported to a local hospital where she subsequently died from her injuries.

The Virginia Beach Police Department Homicide Unit "is investigating this incident," WHNT reports, though Belk's death is currently being treated as a tragic accident.