Last week, an 8-year-old boy died at a high-end resort in Phoenix after a big figure fell on him.
The Phoenix Fire Department told CNN affiliate KPNX that the child got a major head injury when one of the outdoor statues at the Arizona Biltmore fell over and hit them. The hurt child was found around 8:45 a.m. on November 27 and taken to a nearby hospital in serious condition, the Phoenix Police Department told CNN Tuesday.
The boy died the next day at the hospital from his wounds, the police said. The name of the child has not been made public.
Police said, “At this point, there are no signs of foul play.” They called the death a “tragic accident.”
Phoenix Fire Captain Todd Keller told KPNX that the event is still being looked into and that no one knows why the statue fell or how it hit the boy.
They said in a statement to KPNX, “Our top priority is the safety of our guests, and our thoughts are with the family who was affected by today’s events.” To find out more, CNN has called the Arizona Biltmore and the Phoenix Fire Department.
According to the resort’s website, the falling statue was one of 19 “solemn sprite” figures that were given to the Arizona Biltmore in 1985. They were designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and artist Alfonso Ianelli in 1914 and were first made for the Midway Gardens in Chicago. The website says that the “guardian” figures show mythical beings that stand for the building blocks of nature.
Video from the scene showed that the big statue’s broken pieces were all over the lawn outside the lodge. Keller told KTVK, a CNN station, that the statue was stone.
The hotel is trying to keep the Sprite statues in good shape as part of its efforts to protect historic sites, according to its website. The hotel opened in 1929 and was added to the Phoenix Historic Property Register in 2009. It is also nearing the end of a multimillion-dollar project to bring back its original building.