Chicago woman killed by gargoyle

A historic Chicago church apologized on Friday, a day after pieces of a gargoyle fell off the building's facade and killed a mother-of-two who was walking along the street.

Sara Bean, 34, was killed on Thursday while walking to lunch with her fiancé, who is her longtime boyfriend and father of her children, local media reported.

The Second Presbyterian Church in the South Loop neighborhood just outside downtown Chicago expressed its sympathy to Bean's family in a statement on Friday and said it was "deeply sorry at the death."

The church, which does not have outstanding complaints over its structure but has had violations in the past, was putting up protective scaffolding on Friday to prevent any more accidents.

"It's going up as we speak," said Denise Conway, interim office administrator at the church, one of the city's oldest and a national historic landmark. The church will remain open despite the accident, she added.