
A quiet afternoon turned tense this Friday in New York's Bryant Park as a large tree limb came crashing to the ground, injuring 5.
Bryant Park has long been considered one of New York City’s safest, most accessible parks, but now people are raising questions about their wildlife management plans after a tree branch snapped off and fell to the ground, injuring five people. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, three women and two men suffered non-life threatening injuries in the park just before 4pm.
One 23-year-old woman suffered a broken arm from the tree branch accident. A man of 53 sustained back and neck injuries, and a man of 23 reported pains to his head and shoulder. These three victims were transported to Bellevue Hospital Center, and the other two women, 26 and 33, suffered minor injuries to their feet, shoulders, and hips, and were transported to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
According to witness Joseph Miller, who was sitting in the park playing chess at the time of the incident, “I heart a crack and then a bang. And then it hit some people.”
Another witness, Vlad Zark, 19, of Brooklyn, was sitting directly underneath the tree when the massive branch broke off and fell to the ground. “Out of nowhere I heard this shattering sound, this creaking sound. The tree fell very quickly.” Zark was not injured, but recalls seeing one of the victims of the tree crash being taken away on a stretcher.
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