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A man with a large knife attacked two hikers on the Appalachian Trail in southwestern Virginia, officials said.
Sheriff William K. Dunagan of Wythe County said that a female victim had been seriously injured but had to survive. During a phone interview Saturday, he did not provide any information on the second victim, a man.
Dunagan said that one person had been arrested on the trail and that no reason was known. The first reports of the attack described the weapon as a machete, but the sheriff said it would be better described as a big knife.
Wythe County, where the attacks took place, is about 300 km southwest of Washington. The sheriff's office said the Appalachian Trail crossed the western tip of Wythe County.
The trail, a hiking trail from Maine to Georgia, attracts about 3 million hikers a year, said Brian King, spokesman for the Appalachian Reserve. He said that nine homicides have been reported in this country over the years. Based on statistics, he is extremely safe, he said.
Four hikers were together before the attack, said the sheriff. Two fled north on the trail, while the two attacked fled south, he said.
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