Sitting 72 floors above the ground, the Sun Dial restaurant has offered 360-degree views of Atlanta for more than four decades. It revolves atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza.
On Friday, a 5-year-old boy visiting with his parents from Charlotte, N.C., was somehow caught between a wall and a table as the dining area rotated shortly after 3 p.m., Atlanta police said. The family had been at a window seat, but the boy wandered away from the table, according to Officer S.R. Brown. The rotating floor shut off automatically when the boy was stuck.
“The Westin’s security staff and employees were able to dislodge the child,” Brown said. “However, the child sustained critical injuries and later died at the hospital.”
The boy was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died from his injuries Friday afternoon. The restaurant is expected to remain closed until further notice, a spokesperson said.
“There was a tragic accident at the hotel involving a young boy,” Hotel manager George Reed said in emailed statement late Friday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Both police and paramedics were called to the restaurant after the boy was injured.
“As soon as we learned of the accident, we immediately responded until emergency personnel arrived,” Reed said. “We are working with the authorities as they look into this tragic accident and we will continue to assist them in any way we can. Words cannot express the depths of our sorrow. Our thoughts remain with the family.”
In an unrelated incident, a Sun Dial kitchen worker died last year after getting locked in a freezer. Carolyn Robinson, 61, had worked for the Westin company for more than 35 years. In April 2016, a 10-year-old boy drowned after falling into the hotel's pool.
