Two adults and five children hospitalized after tree fall at San Antonio Zoo

SAN ANTONIO — Medics have taken seven people, including five children, to a university hospital after a tree fell on a family visiting the San Antonio Zoo Wednesday.

One child is in critical condition with serious injuries.

Zoo vice president of marketing Hope Roth said first responders arrived within minutes. Video obtained by KENS 5 also shows more than a dozen visitors rushing into the rubble to help people under a tree.

Roth added that gardeners and landscapers are “constantly evaluating” the trees on the zoo grounds.

“It’s really just a natural disaster,” Roth said. “The tree was in good health. We couldn’t have known that something like this could happen.”

Witnesses told KENS 5 that the tree was also in good condition.

The San Antonio Zoo was particularly busy on Wednesday as thousands of local children are currently on spring break.

Jamie Georges took her kids to the zoo to “relax,” she said.

“Suddenly you could hear something like fireworks,” said Georges, imitating crackling. “You look up and see the massive tree start to fall.”

Georges said she ran away with the baby in her arms. Her mother, Karen Rideout, pushed her son Georges out of harm’s way.

“You don’t think. You just react,” Nurse Rideout said. “I took my purse. I threw her into the carriage and said, “I’ll see if there’s anything I can do to help.”

Witnesses recorded Rideout and others jumping into the foliage to help. Rideout didn’t want to go into the details of what she saw.

“To come so close and see what I saw is scary. It’s very scary,” she said.

This is an evolving story. Stay tuned to KENS5.com for updates.

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