New York: Falling branch kills baby at the Central Park Zoo

New York: A baby girl was killed and her mother critically injured when a tree branch fell and struck them just outside the Central Park Zoo on Saturday, the police said.

The accident occurred about 1.45 pm on the promenade in front of the sea lion exhibit.

The mother, 33, was holding the 6-month-old girl and posing for a photograph taken by her husband when a large branch about 30 feet above them snapped, the police said. The branch struck the woman, and she fell to the ground, her baby in her arms.

The police identified the girl as Gianna Riccuitti of Union City, N.J. They did not release the names of her parents.

Gianna and her mother were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital. Medics responded at 1.50 pm, and the woman and baby arrived at the hospital at 2:03 p.m., a Fire Department spokesman said. The baby was pronounced dead, and her mother was reported in critical condition.

Advertisement

A security guard at the zoo said he heard a loud crack, like a thunderclap, and saw the branch plummet. After the mother fell, members of her family shrieked, the guard said, and her husband began screaming and jumping around. "He was going crazy," the guard said.

The area was sealed off with police tape, but the zoo remained open. By midafternoon, it was business as usual at the park, with children watching park workers feed fish to the sea lions, steps from the fallen branch.

Advertisement

Because it was within the zoo limits, the tree is maintained by the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo, the parks department said.

In a statement, the society said it wished to send its "sincerest condolences to the individuals involved in today's accident." A spokesman said he could not comment further due to the police investigation, which was continuing.

Advertisement

It was the third time in less than a year that someone had been harmed or killed by a falling tree branch in Central Park.

On February 25, a 46-year-old man was killed when a large branch, weighed down by snow, snapped off and struck him.

Advertisement

The man, Elmaz Qyra of Brooklyn, was killed as he walked along a picturesque stretch called Literary Walk, so named because of its statues of Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns. He was declared dead at the scene.

On July 30, a computer engineer who worked for Google was seriously injured when a rotting branch fell 20 feet from a large pin oak.

Advertisement

The engineer, Sasha J. Blair-Goldensohn, 33, was struck near the entrance of the park at Central Park West and West 63rd Street.

Elsewhere in Manhattan on Saturday, a 2-year-old boy fell out of an 18th-floor window and landed on a 15th-floor terrace at 333 East 46th Street. The child was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center and was in stable condition on Saturday night. The police said the fall appared to have been an accident.