(Louis Lanzano/AP Photo)

ABC News' Richard Esposito reports:

Seven people are dead after a van swerved out of control and plunged 50 to 60 feet into the Bronx Zoo, the New York City Fire Department and Emergency Management officials reported.

The midday road incident  trapped the victims inside their vehicle and they appeared to have died as rescue teams arrived at the scene on a highway that swings by the zoo, a university and one of the nation's most famous botanical gardens.

The victims included three female children and four adults, two of whom were over 79 years old.

No zoo visitors or animals were injured, officials said.