A tragic accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon at the San Antonio zoo near the aviary section on a busy day with many visitors. A big cedar elm tree unexpectedly falled down injuring seven people of a family including four children. It happened fast. The tree also knocked down some power lines. A child from the group is in critical condition at University Hospital. The ages of the seven victims have not been released. After accident the zoo’s security/EMT team treated the guests before transporting them to hospital. San Antonio Park Police, the San Antonio Police Department and the San Antonio Fire Departmen also were at the scene within minutes.
A video shared by a visitor shows the moment when the tree falled. “We are working with our internal and external teams to investigate the cause of the breakage to prevent this unusual event from happening again,” Tim Morrow, president and CEO of San Antonio Zoo tweeted. It;s known the soil was saturated from recent storms that battered the area. Since November 1929 San Antonio Zoo is a 50+ acre zoo home to over 750 species, some of which are endangered or extinct in the wild. It is visited each year by more than 1 million people. The cedar elm trees are growing to 24–27 m tall with a rounded crown.
