Several people have been injured after military horses belonging to the Household Cavalry lost control in central London
A number of military horses broke free during their daily morning exercise on Horse Guards Parade, in Whitehall. Onlookers say the horses threw their riders and went galloping through the streets. At least four people have been hospitalized following the incident; users on social media have been sharing images of the blood-covered thoroughbreds crashing into cars and buses.
The incident occurred on Wednesday morning at 8:40am local time in the center of the British capital. According to the Daily Mail, a total of five people were injured during the nearly two-hour-long rampage that spanned almost ten kilometers through central London. Of the four people who have been hospitalized, three are believed to be soldiers. None of the people who were hurt are reported to have sustained any life-threatening injuries.
One eyewitness recalled seeing one of the riders “screaming in pain” after he fell off his steed as it struck a car near the Clermont Hotel on Buckingham Palace Road.
“’I saw a soldier falling down into the street after the horse ran into a car,” the witness told The Telegraph. “The man hit the floor hard, he was screaming in pain. You could see blood all over the parked car.”
Photos and videos shared online also show one of the horses ramming into a double-decker bus and smashing its windshield; another was seen crashing into a black taxicab. The frightened animals continued to run through the streets covered in blood after apparently being cut by the broken glass.
“They were running down the street at a very high speed. It was very scary,” another witness said, noting that “It’s rare to see horses stampeding down the street like that.”
In some of the pictures, some members of the public could be seen trying to help calm down one of the shaken horses, whose legs could be seen covered in blood.
By 10:30am, Metropolitan Police reported that all of the horses had been caught and accounted for. After being transported to veterinary care via army horse boxes, all of the animals are reported to now be back at the army camp.
“A number of military working horses became loose during routine exercise this morning. All of the horses have now been recovered and returned to camp,” an army spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the horses and personnel who were injured in the incident were “receiving the appropriate medical attention.”