New York, Jun 18 (PTI): The Consulate General of India in New York has expressed condolences over the tragic death of an 18-year old tourist from India who died after sustaining injuries in a horse carriage incident in Central Park here.
Romanch Mahajan was on his first trip to New York with his family when the incident took place on Wednesday, The New York Times reported.
In a post on X, the Consulate General of India in New York said that “we are deeply saddened” by Mahajan’s “untimely demise”.
Mahajan, an Indian national, “tragically lost his life following a fall from a horse carriage in Central Park, New York.
“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with his family during this difficult time. The Consulate is in touch with the family and is extending all possible assistance and support,” it said.
Following Mahajan’s death from injuries suffered in the horse carriage incident in Central Park, a spokesperson for the Central Park Conservancy said in a statement that it is “absolutely devastated” to learn of the young man’s death.
“On behalf of everyone at the Central Park Conservancy, our deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones during this unimaginable time,” it said.
The Central Park Conservancy, which has been entrusted by the City of New York with the complete day-to-day care of the iconic public space, added that “this is the tragedy we feared when we first called last year for horse carriages to be banned from Central Park due to the risks they pose to public safety and public health”.
“A young man came to enjoy our park and lost his life. That is not an acceptable cost of an antiquated industry operating in the middle of one of the most heavily used public spaces in America,” the Conservancy said.
The Conservancy renewed its call for New York City to pass Ryder’s Law, which would ban horse carriages and provide transitional job placement services for drivers. “Every day horse carriages are in the park is a day the safety of New Yorkers and visitors is in jeopardy,” it said.
There have now been eight horse-related incidents in Central Park over the past thirteen months.
The New York Times report said that the driver of the carriage had stopped to take a family picture, and in an instant, the horse bolted. It tore up onto the sidewalk and bumped onto the grass, accelerating crazily, the driver racing behind, the report added.
“We were yelling, ‘Help me, help me!” Deepak Mahajan, Romanch’s father, said.
The family clung desperately to one another, but when Deepak’s wife, Priya, fell out of the carriage, Romanch jumped down to try to help her, he said.
“My son, just to save his mother, he fell off,” said Deepak. “He was screaming, ‘Mom!” “The horse got scared and ran superfast,” Tatianna Bresler, who works at the Tavern on the Green, told The New York Post.
Bresler, who called 911 as soon as she saw the crash and heard screaming, said a witness was able to slow down the runaway horse before the carriage flipped.
Romanch hit his head on the ground and lay still.
He died on Wednesday night at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Centre, The New York Times report added.
The rest of the family, father, mother and Romanch’s younger brother, escaped with minor injuries, though their carriage clipped another carriage and toppled over, shattering into pieces, it said.
The accident is the latest in a series of mishaps involving carriage horses.
The union that represents carriage drivers said it never should have happened.
“It appears the driver was at least at arm’s length from his horse,” Alexander Kemp, a vice president of the union, Transport Workers Union Local 100, said in a statement.
“This is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos – ever. We support a full investigation.” The driver, whose name was not immediately released, has been suspended indefinitely by the carriage’s owner, Kemp added.
The accident immediately led to renewed calls to ban the carriages from the park. There are more than 100 carriage horses in Manhattan.
“We cannot allow this to be treated as another isolated incident,” City Councilman Christopher Marte, who has introduced a bill to ban carriages at the end of next year, said in a statement.
“The Council must act with the urgency this tragedy demands,” Marte was quoted as saying by the report. PTI YAS GSP GSP
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
