A young tourist has died after he was thrown from a runaway horse-drawn carriage in New York City’s Central Park.

The 18-year-old man, identified as Indian tourist Romanch Mahajan, suffered catastrophic head injures after a carriage horse became startled and bolted through the iconic park on Wednesday afternoon local time, the New York Post reports.

According to authorities, the incident unfolded just before 3pm when the carriage driver allegedly stepped away from the horse to take a photo of passengers while it was parked near 71st Street and Centre Drive, the publication said citing the Transit Workers Union.

While the carriage was unattended the horse suddenly took off, sending the vehicle careening through Central Park.

Mr Mahajan was then thrown into the air before the vehicle flipped over after clipping the wheel of another carriage.

He was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition but later died from his injuries. Two other passengers who were onboard the carriage did not suffer any injuries.

An operator was later able to catch up to the seven-year-old runaway horse, named Sampson, further south near local restaurant Tavern on the Green. The horse was not injured.

Tavern on the Green worker, Tatianna Bresler, witnessed the horrifying scene and recalled the moments leading up to the tragedy as she frantically called emergency services..

“The horse got scared and ran super fast,” she told the outlet.

“The immediate reaction was just like ‘oh my god, oh my god my god’ like covering my eyes because I thought maybe someone had gotten smushed or something I couldn’t even imagine, and then I called 911.”

Video taken at the scene and posted online shows the horse sprinting through the popular tourist destination as a man frantically chases after the wayward carriage as it kicks up dust.

Central Park Conservancy, a New York non-profit organisation responsible for the maintenance of the park, said it was shattered by the tragedy.

“We are absolutely devastated to learn that Romanch Mahajan, the 18-year-old visitor injured in today’s carriage incident, has died,” a spokesperson told Fox News.

“On behalf of everyone at the Central Park Conservancy, our deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones during this unimaginable time.”

In the wake of the deadly crash, the Transit Workers Union said it supports a full investigation into the incident and the driver had been stood down.

“This is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos – ever. We support a full investigation,” TWU Local 100 Administrative VP Alexander Kemp said in a statement to The New York Post.

“We are devastated that a passenger died after injuries suffered today in the accident in Central Park, and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family.

“It’s our understanding that the carriage owner has suspended the driver indefinitely and the horse will be retired from the business.”

The fatality has escalated concerns over safety in the park and re-ignited long-standing demand from activists to cease the practice of horse-drawn carriages in Central Park.

According to Central Park Conservancy’s website, Mr Mahajan’s death comes as the eight horse-related incident at the iconic park in the past 13-months.

Most recently, on June 9, two passengers were inside a carriage when the horse pulling it collapsed and died near West 72nd Street and West Drive.

Earlier in May a carriage reportedly flipped and struck another carriage after a horse became spooked. The incident landed one of the driver’s in hospital with a neck brace.