At least four people were injured and rushed to the hospital after a group of military horses, some of which were covered in blood, bolted through the streets of London in a wild frenzy.
Officials later provided an update and confirmed that the horses had been captured and accounted for.
"We're pleased to confirm that all of the horses have been accounted for. We are continuing to liaise with the army," Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
A group of military horses ran amok through central London after getting loose during a "routine exercise," officials said
Image credits: Jordan Pettitt/PA Images
The riderless horses were seen galloping through London on Wednesday, April 24, and a couple of them were “covered in blood,” according to a witness.
It was eventually reported that the military horses were in the middle of “routine exercises” on Wednesday morning when they got loose and charged through central London at around 8:40 a.m. local time, officials said.
A "number of military working horses" got loose during a "routine exercise" this morning, an army spokesperson said, as quoted by Sky News.
Officials later said in an update that the horses were captured and safely returned following the incident
Image credits: Jordan Pettitt/PA Images
"All of the horses have now been recovered and returned to camp," the spokesperson said.
"A number of personnel and horses have been injured and are receiving the appropriate medical attention," they added.
Megan Morra said it was a "chaotic" scene while she was on her way to work at 8:35 in the morning.
"At the time I was really confused but it felt like something chaotic was happening as there were police officers or potentially security guards sprinting down the middle of Buckingham Palace Road," Megan told BBC. "I assumed there had been some sort of accident or vehicle collision. There’s a lot of traffic on that road at that time."
"I kept walking along towards St James Park and the trail of blood turned and went that way so I assume it happened right on The Mall," the commuter added.
One of the horses ran into a double-decker bus and smashed the vehicle's window
Image credits: eligalezz
Paramedics revealed that one of the servicemen, who was part of the exercise, was thrown from the back of the horse on Buckingham Palace Road.
Some commuters in the area reportedly heard the injured soldier screaming in pain after falling off the animal.
“I saw a soldier falling down into the street after the horse ran into a car. One of my colleagues called the police,” Bashir Aden, 48, a construction worker, told The Telegraph. “The man hit the floor hard, he was screaming in pain. You could see blood all over the parked car.”
Witnesses were left bewildered after seeing the blood-covered horses running through the streets
Image credits: eligalezz
While the horses were running amok, one of them reportedly ran into a double-decker bus and smashed the vehicle’s windscreen. Another galloping horse reportedly crashed into a black cab before eventually being captured.
“The horses come down this route every day, but today the horse looked stressed or panicked. I saw the horse run away after it hit a bus. People were screaming and running all over,” Bashir said.
The construction worker noted that the soldier’s injuries “looked very serious, [and] he looked really hurt.”
During the morning exercise, one of the soldiers fell off a horse and was rushed to the hospital with an injury
Along with the individual thrown from the horse’s back during the exercise, three others were also picked up by paramedics from different locations and taken to the hospital with injuries. Two of them were found injured near Belgrave Square, while the fourth person was picked up at the junction of Chancery Lane and Fleet Street.
"We were called at 8:25am today (April 24) to reports of a person being thrown from a horse on Buckingham Palace Road," said a spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service. "We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, and an incident response officer."
"Our first paramedic was on the scene in five minutes. We treated a patient at the scene and took them to hospital," the spokesperson added.
At least four people have sustained injuries from the incident involving the military horses
One commuter, sitting with a passenger in his vehicle, said one of the horses smashed into his car and continued running after sustaining an injury.
"I was just sitting by the car with my passenger... I didn’t see the horse hit my car, I was like, smashed senseless, the people just came by my car to check, 'Are you ok,'" Faraz told LBC.
"It was just like a smash, his head hit it very hard and then [went] down. I saw about three [or] four horses, and I think it was the white horse which hit my car," he added.
Many were glad the horses were safe following the unexpected turn of events on what should have been an ordinary morning in London
