Baby killed, mother injured by falling tree branch in NYC’s Central Park Zoo

Falling branch kills baby in NYC’s Central Park

NEW YORK — Police say a 6-month-old baby has been killed and her mother injured by a falling tree branch at the Central Park Zoo in New York City.

The 33-year-old New Jersey woman and her baby were struck Saturday by the falling branch.

Police said the two were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where the baby was pronounced dead. The mother was listed in stable condition. Their names were not immediately released.

A spokesman for the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo, said he could not comment on the accident.

It’s the second fatality caused by a tree branch this year at Central Park.

A 56-year-old man died in February when a branch heavy from snow fell and hit him.

In July 2009, a Google engineer was knocked unconscious after being hit on the head by a rotted tree branch at the park.