An 18-year-old from India came to New York as a tourist and died Wednesday after a horse tied to a carriage bolted, authorities said.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) said Romanch Mahajan died after a horse carriage accident in Central Park, NBC New York reported. Officials said the horse broke loose and bolted down West Drive before slamming into a second carriage and tipping over close to Tavern on the Green, Fox News Digital reported.

Police said Mahajan fell at approximately 2:47 p.m. and medics rushed him to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he later died, ABC News reported. No one else in the carriage suffered serious harm, according to law enforcement. (RELATED: Taxi Union Forced To Reprimand Fellow New Yorkers After Driver Allegedly Pulled Out Of Car)

Christina Hansen, a carriage driver who answered a call about the wreck, hurried over and tied the loose animal to a pole, NBC New York reported. She said the driver of the runaway carriage had come back to the spot where the horse took off and was rattled.

An 18-year-old tourist from India died in a fall from a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park after the horse bolted. https://t.co/9FAV5HUJGc

— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 18, 2026

TWU Local 100, the union representing carriage drivers in New York, placed responsibility on the driver’s alleged conduct. Union Administrative Vice President Alexander Kemp said the horse had worked in the park for just six weeks before it ran, adding that the carriage owner has since suspended the driver and will retire the animal.

“It appears the driver was at least at arm’s length from his horse to take a photo of his passengers in the carriage. The horse, which had been in the park for only six weeks, took off for unknown reasons,” Kemp said in a statement to NBC New York. “This is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos – ever.”

The NYPD told Fox News Digital its investigation continues. The Central Park Conservancy used the death to press its case against the industry in a Wednesday press release.

“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 Conservancy spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Councilmember Lynn Schulman said extended their condolences to the teen’s loved ones in a statement Wednesday. They referenced Ryder’s Law, which targets the horse carriage industry, noting the council will have a hearing on the legislation in July.