Central Park: Tourist death prompts pause of horse-drawn carriages in NYC

A family holiday to the US turned into a nightmare when an 18-year-old died at one of the world’s biggest tourist destinations.

Romanch Mahajan was visiting New York City’s Central Park from India when tragedy struck.

He was with his mother, Priya, 11-year-old brother Manik, and father Deepak.

The teenager died on Wednesday, local time, when a horse leading the carriage his family was in bolted at speed and collided with another.

The impact of the crash ejected him from the carriage, and the teenager smacked his head on the pavement.

It is understood that Romanch was trying to save his mother’s life when he died.

His father told NBC News the family of four decided to take a 45 minute tour of the park in the iconic horse-drawn carriages.

“We never knew that this was the last day of his life,” he said.

Throughout the journey, the driver stopped to take picture of the group.

At one stop, towards the end of the ride, the driver stepped away from the carriage to take a photograph and the horse bolted.

The 18-year-old was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead.

The rest of the family suffered only minor injuries.

The New York Post reported that his death was ruled an accident as a result of blunt force trauma.

The terrifying ordeal was captured on video and shared widely on social media.

A horse carriage driver Christina Hansen told NBC News the horse involved was “absolutely fine” and that the driver involved was “very, very shaken up”.

The Transport Workers Union, which oversees the horse carriage industry, said it would support a full investigation into the incident.

In a statement, administrative vice president of TWU Local 100 Alexander Kemp said the circumstances of the teenager’s death were “unacceptable”.

“It appears the driver was at least at arm’s length from his horse to take a photo of his passengers in the carriage,” he said.

“The horse, which has been in the park for only six weeks, took off for unknown reasons.

“This is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos - ever.”

Carriage rides were paused over the weekend of June 19 to 21.

TWU said “there will be no rides,” in a statement, published by People.

“Horses, however, need exercise to remain healthy and fit. Drivers and stable staff will take them out of the barns for that purpose but that purpose only.”

The family were on day three of a 10 day trip to the US when the tragedy happened.

The holiday was a celebration for Romanch’s acceptance into an Indian university and recent high school graduation.

The teenager has been remembered by Mr Mahajan as intelligent.

“My son was like 6-feet-2 or 6-feet-3, handsome guy, very obedient, very smart guy,” he said.

“It’s a big loss to our whole family.”

The horrific death has renewed calls to ban horse-drawn carriages in the park.

Central Park Conservancy led the charge.

“A young man came to enjoy our park and lost his life,” a spokesperson said.

“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.”

It was a sentiment echoed by New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, who said in a statement that he had been briefed on “the horrific incident in Central Park that took someone’s life”.

Carriage rides have been running since the park’s opening in 1858 and this is believed to be the first passenger fatality.