NEW YORK (AP) - A giant balloon at the Thanksgiving parade snagged a street light near Times Square and caused part of it to fall into the crowd, injuring at least one person, according to police and eyewitness accounts. The circumstances and the extent of the injuries were not immediately known, said Detective Mindy Diaz of the New York Police Department.
A reporter from WINS-AM radio on the scene of the accident said part of the damaged light fixture crashed to the ground on a traffic island after being hit by a balloon shaped like an M&M.
The station said the injured included a child who had traveled with a family from Albany, N.Y.
The accident occurred at 11:30 a.m. at West 43rd Street and Seventh Avenue, near the end of the procession.
In 1997, two people were seriously injured when 45 mph winds forced a "Cat in the Hat" balloon into a metal pole at Central Park West and 72nd Street, sending debris raining onto spectators.
Maria Clohessy of Pearl River, N.Y., suffered a brain injury, four broken fingers on her left hand and a cut scalp. Kathleen Caronna of Manhattan suffered a fractured skull and was in a coma for almost a month.
