Thursday, June 18, 2026 - A teenage tourist was k!lled when a carriage horse he was riding in got startled and bolted in Central Park.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon, June 17, after
the operator got out to take a photo of the passengers, cops and sources
said.
The trip through the park took a terrifying turn for the
group, who came into New York from India, when the coachman left his post near
71st Street and Centre Drive around 2:45 p.m.
The carriage-horse driver was at least an arm’s length from
his horse to take a photo of his passengers when the animal became spooked and
took off, according to sources and the Transit Workers Union.
“The horse got scared and ran super fast,” Tatianna Bresler,
who works at the Tavern on the Green, told The 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.
“The immediate reaction was just like ‘oh my god, oh my god
my god’ like covering my eyes because I thought maybe someone had gotten
smushed or something I couldn’t even imagine, and then I called 911,” the
20-year-old said.
The teen passenger, Romanch Mahajan, was thrown from the
carriage and hit his head, the sources said.
The carriage then hit the wheel of another carriage and
toppled to the ground, the TWU added.
Dramatic video from the scene shows the operator sprinting
after the swiftly moving carriage, as Mahajan drops to the ground.
Mahajan was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he
later di£d.
The other two passengers did not report any injuries, the
sources said.
A video of the horse breaking free and the carriage driver
chasing after it has been shared online.
The operator caught up to the fleeing horse slightly further
south in the iconic green space, near Tavern on the Green, according to the
sources.
The 7-year-old horse, named Sampson, appeared to be in
stable condition and uninjured, cops and the union said.
“This is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take
photos – ever. We support a full investigation,” TWU Local 100 Administrative
VP Alexander Kemp said in a statement to The Post.
“We are devastated that a passenger di£d after injuries
suffered today in the accident in Central Park, and our thoughts and prayers
are with the victim’s family,” Kemp said.
“It’s our understanding that the carriage owner has
suspended the driver indefinitely and the horse will be retired from the
business,” the statement continued.
The union also called out safety issues inside the
park.
“Safety in the park has been a growing concern among many,
and improvements are needed to be made with respect to all vehicles, including
e-bicycles, delivery vehicles, pedicabs, and horse-drawn carriages,” said
Kemp.
Helen David, a pedicab driver in Central Park, rushed over
to the chaotic scene to find the victim’s “distraught” family.
“I saw the paramedics. I saw the ambulance. I saw
everybody’s trying to, like, assist the person. You know, trying to put them on
a stretcher,” David said.
Wednesday’s tragedy reignited the long-standing push by
activists and some lawmakers to ban horse carriages in New York.
See the video below.
An 18-year-old has died after he was thrown from a horse carriage that overturned in New York City's Central Park on Wednesday.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 18, 2026
Alexander Kemp, administrative vice president for TWU Local 100, the union representing horse carriage drivers, said the driver of the carriage did not… pic.twitter.com/JczoDaT6C5
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