Mother Dead, 5-Year-Old Son in Critical Condition After Falling 90 Feet into Niagara Gorge
mother is dead and her 5-year-old son is in critical condition after they both fell multiple feet into the Niagara Gorge at the Niagara Falls State Park earlier this week, authorities said.
On Monday, the woman and her child fell “approximately 90 feet” towards the bottom of the gorge near the Cave of the Winds complex, New York State Parks Police Captian Chris Rola told reporters at a press conference.
The officer said that “life-saving measures” were given to both the mother and her son. The boy, he detailed, was “stable” and able to be transported to an ambulance to be brought to a nearby hospital with a head injury. His mother, however, died near the bottom of the gorge.Rola added that the woman and child had been with her husband at the park before they fell into the gorge. He noted that authorities were not aware of what transpired before the duo fell, but police were interviewing the husband, along with other witnesses who were in the park at the time of the incident.
“The investigation is ongoing, but we don’t believe it is an accident,” Rola said.Rola further detailed the incident in his press conference, telling reporters, “Although today it’s nice out, it’s very icy down there. It’s a real tough terrain that our guy and our girls were able to get through and get to them and provide that life-saving care and do everything they could.”
“We were going to make every effort for that child that was still alive at the time,” he continued.”Niagara Falls is a tough place to perform rescues,” Rola added. “The State Park Police, we have a swift water rescue team, we have high angle rope rescue guys that train all the time. Niagara Falls fire is great, and as you can see, the state police are a great partner with us, and their aviation crews [are] top-notch.”
The names of the woman and her son have not yet been released due to the age of the boy and ongoing investigation, the New York State Parks Police said in a statement, per Niagara Frontier Publications.
The family involved, police added, is not from the Niagara Falls State Park area.
