2. 22 December 1997
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 22— A 2-
year-old girl sightseeing on the Golden
Gate Bridge with her family this
afternoon slipped through a gap in a
railing and fell 180 feet to her death.
The girl was believed to have been
walking next to the bridge railing when
she fell through a 9 1/2-inch gap, just
wide enough for a child to slip through.
She, her 4-year-old brother and their
parents were walking along the eastern
side of the bridge.
When paramedics arrived at a
construction site below the bridge, the
girl was not breathing but had a pulse.
She was taken by air to Children's
Hospital in Oakland, where she was
pronounced dead.
The parents asked that the identity of
their daughter and the name of the
family's hometown not be released.
A hospital spokesman, Steve Texeira,
said, ''The family wants to remain as
quiet about this as possible.''
SAN FRANCISCO — A 2-year-old girl,
sightseeing on the Golden Gate Bridge with
her family, slipped through a gap between
the railing and sidewalk and plunged 180
feet to her death Sunday.
The accident occurred about 3 p.m. as the
girl, her 4-year-old brother and parents
walked along the east span on the Marin
County side of the bridge.
The youngster reportedly was walking when
she fell through a 9 1/2-inch gap--just wide
enough for a child to slip through.
When paramedics arrived, the girl was not
breathing but had a pulse as she lay on a
dirt construction site. She was airlifted to
Children's Hospital in Oakland and was
pronounced dead at 4:11 p.m.
The parents requested that the identity of
the girl and the family's hometown not be
released.
The California Highway Patrol said the
parents were videotaping the sights at the
time and may have recorded the accident.
A sightseeing trip turned tragic when a toddler fell to
her death from the Golden Gate Bridge despite her
father's desperate rescue attempt.
Witnesses said the father tried to grab 2-year-old
Gauri Govil as she slipped through a gap between
the walkway and traffic lanes.
"He ran to the curb where the steel girder is and tried
to reach down but was unable to recover the child,"
California Highway Patrol Officer Steven Wheat said.
Gauri was walking with her 4-year-old brother and
parents along the east span of the bridge, on the
Marin County side, when the accident happened
Sunday afternoon.
The youngster fell through a 9 1/2-inch gap, landing
on a construction site below. The gap, barely visible
to pedestrians, runs along a metal barrier that
separates the sidewalk from the roadway.
She was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital in
Oakland.
More than 1,200 people have jumped to their deaths
from the span since it opened in 1937. But authorities
said they could not recall anyone slipping through the
gap.
3. De Feiten
1. Datum gebeuren: 22/12/1997
2. Viel tussen rand autoweg en
wandelpad
3. Kwam terecht op bouwwerf
4. Geen ademhaling, wel hartslag
5. In Children's Hospital in Oakland
ondergebracht
6. Doodverklaard om 16h11 locale tijd
4. 2. Viel tussen rand autoweg en
wandelpad
• Wandelen met ouders en 4-jarig broertje
• Viel plots in gat van 24cm
• Gat tussen voetpad en autobaan (zie aangeduid
op foto)
• Val van 55(!)meter
5. 3.Kwam terecht op bouwwerf
• Komt terecht op bouwwerf onder
brug
• Ouders en omstaanders bellen
hulpverleners
• Hulpverleners vinden meisje onder
bouwwerf terug
6. 4.Geen ademhaling, wel hartslag
• Hulpverleners vinden meisje
terug zonder ademhaling
• Wel hartslag
• Proberen ademhaling terug te
brengen
• Meisje wordt on kritieke
toestand weggebracht naar
Oakland Children’s Hospital
7. 5.In Children's Hospital in Oakland
ondergebracht
6.Doodverklaard om 16h11 locale
tijd
• Wordt ter plekke dood
verklaard
• Tijdstip overlijden: 16h11
