58-year-old Geraldine Carmouche was killed last night at a New Orleans parade after reportedly trying to pass between two floats, tripping, and being run over.
The incident has sparked some calls for new safety regulations to keep people away from floats, but New Orleans Councilwoman Kristian Palmer says it’s just not feasible.
“Do we barricade the entire parade route? I mean I can’t even imagine just the manpower, but the investment, that would take,” says Palmer.
The incident happened roughly around 9 PM last night at the Nyx Parade. Witnesses at the scene reported seeing Carmouche try to hop between the gap in a linked tandem float.
“It’s like trying to cross between tandem on a railroad, you just don’t do that,” says Palmer.
Nyx, an all-woman parade, is the largest in New Orleans with over 3,300 members and 88 floats. The incident occurred at float 21, and all floats behind that were routed back to the staging area.
The last time a person was killed by a float at a parade in New Orleans was 2008 as Endymion was entering the Superdome. Palmer says thankfully you almost never see this happen.
“The amazing thing is the number of folks to who come here, 1.5, 1.8 million visitors a year who are coming just for this, this does not happen frequently,” says Palmer.
