Tourist Celebration Turns Tragic — Industry on Trial

An 18-year-old boy came to New York City to celebrate graduating high school — and never made it home.

Story Snapshot

Romanch Mahajan, an Indian tourist, died June 17, 2026, after falling from a runaway horse-drawn carriage in Central Park.
The driver had stepped off the carriage to take a photo — a direct violation of safety rules — when the horse bolted.
Mahajan jumped from the carriage trying to save his mother, struck his head, and died from his injuries.
The death is the eighth horse-related incident in Central Park in just 13 months, renewing calls to ban the 150-year-old industry.

A Family Trip Turns Deadly

Romanch Mahajan had traveled from India with his parents and younger brother to celebrate finishing high school. The family chose a horse-drawn carriage ride near West 67th Street in Central Park — one of New York City’s most iconic tourist experiences. Around 2:45 p.m. on June 17, the driver stepped off the carriage to take a photo of the family by a fountain. The horse, named Sampson, suddenly got spooked and bolted.

When the horse took off, Mahajan’s mother fell from the carriage. Mahajan jumped out to help her. He struck his head and was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition. He died from his injuries shortly after. His family survived with minor injuries. The driver was indefinitely suspended, and the horse was retired from service. The carriage operator’s union, Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, confirmed the driver broke a clear rule: drivers must never leave the carriage.

A Pattern of Incidents, Not Just One Accident

This was not an isolated event. The Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the 843-acre park, counted seven horse-related incidents in Central Park in the 13 months before Mahajan’s death. Those included a horse running into traffic on Sixth Avenue, two carriages bolting through the park injuring drivers, and a horse dying after eating a toxic plant — all in 2025 and 2026. Mahajan’s death became the eighth incident in that stretch.

The Conservancy called Mahajan’s death proof that the industry cannot operate safely in a heavily used public space. “A young man came to enjoy our park and lost his life,” the group said in a statement. “That is not an acceptable cost of an antiquated industry.” The group renewed its call for New York City to pass Ryder’s Law, which would ban horse-drawn carriages and help drivers find new jobs. A New York City Council hearing on the issue has been scheduled.

The Industry’s Defense — and Its Limits

The TWU argues this crash came down to one driver breaking the rules — not a failure of the whole system. The union’s public materials state that no horse has been killed in a traffic accident in the last 15 years and that safety regulations have grown stricter in recent years. After the crash, the union paused all carriage rides and announced new training rules for roughly 200 carriage owners and drivers. The union said it supports stricter oversight, including requiring drivers to stay seated during boarding and throughout every ride.

An 18-year-old Indian tourist, Romanch Mahajan, was killed in a horse-drawn carriage accident in New York’s Central Park after a horse reportedly bolted, causing the carriage to crash and overturn, throwing passengers onto the road.@danielaureltv tells you more pic.twitter.com/QhMIgS8eGp

— Firstpost (@firstpost) June 18, 2026

That defense has real limits, though. The union’s own safety claims come from its own promotional materials — not an independent audit or government review. The official cause of why Sampson bolted remains unknown. And the string of eight incidents in 13 months is hard to explain away as a series of one-off mistakes. According to the Associated Press, Mahajan is believed to be the first person killed in a Central Park carriage accident since the rides began more than 150 years ago. That record now has a name attached to it — and a grieving family on the other side of the world asking how it happened.