Falling dolphin statue kills toddler on San Francisco vacation

[June 10, 2014]  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A 2-year-old boy visiting San Francisco with his family was killed when a large metal statue fell on him in the city’s busy Fisherman’s Wharf district, police said on Monday.

The child, who was from Utah, was playing on Friday morning with or around the statue – a 6-foot-tall (1.8-metre) metal dolphin located on the sidewalk in front of a business – when it toppled over.

"Almost immediately, the boy had some complications and he was transported to San Francisco General Hospital," said Gordon Shyy, spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.

Rachael Kagan, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said the boy arrived with a traumatic injury and was in critical condition before dying later that afternoon.

The city’s port authority mandates a blue-line system on sidewalks in the area that designates where businesses can display their property, so as not to impede the flow of traffic.

Shyy said the business was ticketed by police after Friday's accident, after being cited for the same infraction last year.

"Last summer, San Francisco was the host city for the America’s Cup, and this specific business was warned about their dolphin being outside the blue line," he said. "This business was warned this was a problem and a violation of that code."

(Reporting by Madeleine Thomas; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Peter Cooney)

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