NEW YORK — An 18-year-old man died after being critically injured in a runaway horse carriage incident in Central Park on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The incident happened at about 2:45 p.m. near Tavern on the Green, according to authorities.
Police said the young man, who was visiting New York City as a tourist, fell from the carriage after the horse broke loose. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later died.
Witnesses said a family of four was in the process of getting back into the carriage when the horse, identified as Sampson, became startled and bolted.
Video from the scene appears to show a person being thrown from the moving carriage before the carriage tipped onto its side.
The carriage driver was not inside the carriage at the time, and it appeared he was assisting the family as they reboarded when the horse suddenly took off.
The union representing horse carriage drivers said Sampson’s driver did not see or hear anything that could have spooked the horse.
The horse is said to be OK.
It comes just over a week after a carriage horse named Deniz died while carrying passengers in the park.
His death was determined to be a result of eating a toxic plant, but it has still renewed calls to end carriage horses in New York City.
The Central Park conservancy, which supports a ban of the horse carriages, released the following statement:
“As details of today’s incident come into focus, our thoughts are with the injured. That this frightening situation is just days after the previous one underscores the dangers posed by horse carriages to Park visitors, carriage drivers, and the horses themselves. The Central Park Conservancy renews its call to ban carriages in Central Park as a matter of public safety and public health. We hope today’s injuries are the last we ever see.”
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