8-year-old boy dies after statue falls on him at historic Arizona resort, police say

() – An 8-year-old boy died last week after a large statue fell on him at a luxury resort in Phoenix, Arizona, authorities said.

One of the Arizona Biltmore’s outdoor statues fell and hit the boy, who suffered a serious head injury, the Phoenix Fire Department told affiliate KPNX. Around 8:45 a.m. on Nov. 27, officers responding to the incident located the injured child and took him to a local hospital in critical condition, the Phoenix Police Department told on Tuesday.

The boy died from his injuries at the hospital a day later, the department said. The child’s name has not been released.

“There are no signs of foul play at this time,” the Police Department said, calling the death a “tragic accident.”

The incident is under investigation and authorities do not know why the statue fell or how the child was struck by it, Phoenix Fire Capt. Todd Keller told KPNX.

“Our top priority is the safety of our guests and our thoughts are with the family affected by today’s events,” the Arizona Biltmore told KPNX in a statement. has contacted the Arizona Biltmore and the Phoenix Fire Department for more information.

The piece that fell was one of 19 “solemn elves” statues – which were donated to the Arizona Biltmore in 1985 – designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and artist Alfonso Ianelli in 1914 and were originally created for Midway Gardens in Chicago. according to the resort website. The “guardian” statues represent mythological beings that represent the building blocks of nature, according to the website.

Fragments of the large fallen statue were scattered across the grass outside the resort, video from the scene showed. The statue was made of concrete, Keller told the affiliateKTVK .

As part of historic preservation efforts, the hotel is working to preserve the leprechaun statues, the website says. The hotel, which opened in 1929 and was listed on the Phoenix Registry of Historic Properties in 2009, is also undergoing the final stages of a multimillion-dollar project to restore its original architecture.