NEW ORLEANS — A teenager was rushed to the hospital in critical condition after being struck by a falling tree in Jackson Square on Friday, according to New Orleans Police.
"NOEMS did respond to Jackson Square for a report of a fallen tree and did transport a minor to the trauma center," said Lewis.
A photo showed a large tree downed in the Square. It is unclear what caused the part of the tree to come down.
The tree has since been cut down, according to WWL-TV's Alyssa Curtis.
"We're not quite sure. Forestry is on the scene right now assessing what happened," said a city spokesman Gregory Joseph. "It looks like very unfortunate accident."
Several witnesses told WWL-TV's Alyssa Curtis that work had been done on some of the trees in Jackson Square recently. The city said that routine maintenance is performed on trees in city parks, but didn't say what "routine" meant or if work was done recently on the trees in Jackson Square.
"We can't speak to that," said Michael Karam, the city's director of Parks and Parkways. "We're really just assessing the situation to determine if there's any remaining risk... We're likely going to remove the remainder of the tree body."
Social media users said a large part of the tree broke off and fell onto people who were in the Square.
Bystanders apparently pulled people who were trapped but at least one person remained under the tree.
