An Australian diplomat has died after falling from a New York City balcony while socialising with friends.<\/p>\n
Julian Simpson, 30, accidentally slipped from a seventh-floor ledge of his Manhattan building and fell to a landing on the second floor, New York police said.<\/p>\n
US media report he was playing a “trust game” with a friend before he fell.<\/p>\n
Mr Simpson was a junior diplomat representing Australia at the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Police were called to the scene about 01:00 local time on Wednesday (06:00 GMT). Mr Simpson was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n
The Australian envoy had been out with his wife and friends when they returned home to view the Empire State Building, which was lit up to celebrate\u00a0Australia’s same-sex marriage vote result, police said.<\/p>\n
An NYPD spokesperson would not confirm reports that he was playing a “trust” game that involved putting himself at risk and relying on one of his guests to catch him.<\/p>\n
“He’s described as somebody who liked to play games and had sat on the balcony railing and accidentally lost his balance,” Martin Brown said.<\/p>\n
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the accident a “shocking tragedy”.<\/p>\n
“Our hearts go out to his family but I cannot provide any more details at this stage,” he told the local Seven Network.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she was saddened by the death of Mr Simpson, who she had met recently in New York.<\/p>\n
“Julian was a diligent, professional and highly skilled diplomat, whose support I valued, during UN Leaders’ Week,” she said.<\/p>\n
Mr Simpson had been in the US for two years.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An Australian diplomat has died after falling from a New York City balcony while socialising with friends. Julian Simpson, 30, accidentally slipped from a seventh-floor ledge of his Manhattan building and fell to a landing on the second floor, New York police said. US media report he was playing a “trust game” with a friend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[1671,8134,8787],"yoast_head":"\n