NEW YORK, NY — A dream family vacation took a devastating turn on Wednesday afternoon, June 17, 2026 when an 18-year-old tourist from India was tragically killed after a Central Park carriage horse panicked, bolted, and overturned the vehicle.

The victim, identified as Romanch Mahajan, was on his first-ever trip to New York City with his family. At around 3:00 PM, Mahajan was riding in the horse-drawn carriage along with three family members near 71st Street and Centre Drive. The afternoon turned chaotic when the carriage driver reportedly stepped away from the vehicle to take a commemorative photo of the family—a critical violation of industry rules.

Left unattended, the seven-year-old horse, named Sampson, suddenly grew startled and bolted, sprinting wildly down the park’s busy loop with the family trapped inside.

As the driver desperately gave chase, the runaway carriage careened through the park, kicking up dust and causing immediate panic. Terrified witnesses captured video of passengers attempting to jump from the accelerating vehicle.

According to the victim's father, Deepak Mahajan, the family clung to one another while screaming for help. When Romanch’s mother, Priya, fell from the moving carriage, the 18-year-old instinctively leaped after her in an attempt to protect her. "My son, just to save his mother, he fell off," Deepak Mahajan recounted in emotional agony.

Romanch sustained catastrophic head injuries upon striking the pavement. Shortly after the teenager fell, the careening carriage clipped the wheel of another horse-drawn vehicle and completely flipped over.

Emergency responders rushed Romanch to Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition, where he later succumbed to his injuries. The remaining family members declined major medical treatment at the scene. Sampson, the horse, was uninjured and caught near Tavern on the Green.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, which represents carriage drivers, expressed deep devastation over the tragedy and immediately condemned the operator's actions.

"This is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos—ever. We support a full investigation," said TWU Administrative Vice President Alexander Kemp. Kemp revealed that the horse had only been working in Central Park for six weeks. The carriage owner has indefinitely suspended the driver, and Sampson will be permanently retired from the industry.

The fatal accident has reignited fierce political and social debate over the 150-year-old horse-drawn carriage industry, coming less than a week after another carriage horse, Deniz, collapsed and died in the park.

The Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that manages the park, released a scathing statement demanding an absolute end to the practice.

"A young man came to enjoy our park and lost his life," the Conservancy stated. "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."

New York State Senator Erik Bottcher and animal welfare advocates are now pressuring the New York City Council to immediately vote on "Ryder’s Law," proposed legislation that would completely phase out horse-drawn carriages in favor of electric, nostalgic alternative vehicles. Critics argue that mixing large, easily spooked animals with modern urban park congestion—which includes pedicabs, e-bikes, and heavy pedestrian traffic—poses a persistent and unacceptable public safety risk.