{"id":743965,"date":"2026-06-18T07:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/743965\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:09:15","slug":"new-york-young-man-dies-after-horse-drawn-carriages-collide-in-devastating-crash-at-central-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/743965\/","title":{"rendered":"New York: Young man dies after horse-drawn carriages collide in \u2018devastating\u2019 crash at Central Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

A young tourist has died after he was thrown from a runaway horse-drawn carriage in New York City\u2019s Central Park.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old man, identified as Indian tourist Romanch Mahajan, suffered catastrophic head injures after a carriage horse became startled and bolted through the iconic park on Wednesday afternoon local time, the New York Post<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

According to authorities, the incident unfolded just before 3pm when the carriage driver allegedly stepped away from the horse to take a photo of passengers while it was parked near 71st Street and Centre Drive, the publication said citing the Transit Workers Union.<\/p>\n

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While the carriage was unattended the horse suddenly took off, sending the vehicle careening through Central Park.<\/p>\n

Mr Mahajan was then thrown into the air before the vehicle flipped over after clipping the wheel of another carriage.<\/p>\n

He was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition but later died from his injuries. Two other passengers who were onboard the carriage did not suffer any injuries.<\/p>\n

An operator was later able to catch up to the seven-year-old runaway horse, named Sampson, further south near local restaurant Tavern on the Green. The horse was not injured.<\/p>\n

Tavern on the Green worker, Tatianna Bresler, witnessed the horrifying scene and recalled the moments leading up to the tragedy as she frantically called emergency services..<\/p>\n

\u201cThe horse got scared and ran super fast,\u201d she told the outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe immediate reaction was just like \u2018oh my god, oh my god my god\u2019 like covering my eyes because I thought maybe someone had gotten smushed or something I couldn\u2019t even imagine, and then I called 911.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video taken at the scene and posted online shows the horse sprinting through the popular tourist destination as a man frantically chases after the wayward carriage as it kicks up dust.<\/p>\n

Central Park Conservancy, a New York non-profit organisation responsible for the maintenance of the park, said it was shattered by the tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are absolutely devastated to learn that Romanch Mahajan, the 18-year-old visitor injured in today\u2019s carriage incident, has died,\u201d a spokesperson told Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of everyone at the Central Park Conservancy, our deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones during this unimaginable time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the wake of the deadly crash, the Transit Workers Union said it supports a full investigation into the incident and the driver had been stood down.<\/p>\n

\"AA horse-drawn carriage bolted and overturned in New York City’s Central Park on Wednesday, killing an 18-year-old tourist. Credit: WNYW\/FOX News\/WNYW\/FOX News<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos \u2013 ever. We support a full investigation,\u201d TWU Local 100 Administrative VP Alexander Kemp said in a statement to The New York Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are devastated that a passenger died after injuries suffered today in the accident in Central Park, and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our understanding that the carriage owner has suspended the driver indefinitely and the horse will be retired from the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fatality has escalated concerns over safety in the park and re-ignited long-standing demand from activists to cease the practice of horse-drawn carriages in Central Park.<\/p>\n

According to Central Park Conservancy\u2019s website, Mr Mahajan\u2019s death comes as the eight horse-related incident at the iconic park in the past 13-months.<\/p>\n

Most recently, on June 9, two passengers were inside a carriage when the horse pulling it collapsed and died near West 72nd Street and West Drive.<\/p>\n

Earlier in May a carriage reportedly flipped and struck another carriage after a horse became spooked. The incident landed one of the driver\u2019s in hospital with a neck brace.<\/p>\n

\"AA horse-drawn carriage bolted and overturned in New York City’s Central Park on Wednesday Credit: WNYW\/FOX News\/WNYW\/FOX News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A young tourist has died after he was thrown from a runaway horse-drawn carriage in New York City\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40,2957,1720],"class_list":["post-743965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-usa","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}