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Military horses running loose in central London caught by police Four taken to hospital after military horses break loose in central London
(32 minutes later)
Pictures and videos of riderless horses in centre of UK capital shared on social media Witnesses describe ‘total mayhem’ as horses run through centre of UK capital during rush hour
Military horses have bolted through central London after a number of the animals got loose. Four people have been taken to hospital after several military horses broke loose during a morning exercise and bolted through central London, colliding with vehicles.
Army personnel and horses were hurt and vehicles damaged when chaos broke out on Wednesday morning. Reports indicated that up to five people had been injured. Astonished witnesses described “total mayhem” as the runaway horses, including one white horse drenched in blood, ran through the rush-hour streets.
Two horses were seen running in the road near Aldwych, one of which appeared to be covered in blood. A taxi driver waiting outside the Clermont hotel in Buckingham Palace Road had the windows of his car smashed after a spooked horse collided with the Mercedes people carrier. Two were seen running in the road near Aldwych. One collided with a parked taxi outside the Clermont Hotel in Buckingham Palace Road, smashing the windows of the Mercedes people carrier. A horse also crashed into a parked doubledecker tour bus, smashing the windscreen.
A horse also crashed into a parked doubledecker tour bus, smashing the windscreen. It is understood that five horses, thought to be from the Household Cavalry based at Hyde Park barracks, initially got loose during a routine morning exercise at about 8.40am. A number of military personnel were injured, the army said, including one whom witnesses saw being thrown from the saddle. All the animals were eventually contained.
An army spokesperson said: “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. A number of personnel and horses have been injured and are receiving the appropriate medical attention.” Two of the horses were caught near Limehouse tunnel, about five miles away. Pictures and videos shared on social media showed a black 4x4 with blue lights following two of the horses between Tower Bridge and the tunnel.
LBC radio station spoke to the driver of the Mercedes, Faraz, who was waiting outside the Clermont hotel when he felt something smash into his car. He said he saw three or four horses near the vehicle and one member of the military had been thrown off and injured. The BBC reported that that the noise of builders moving concrete in Belgravia might have initially spooked the animals.
It is thought seven horses initially got loose, with police working with the army to recapture them. London ambulance service said it had received three calls from separate locations about the horses: the first at 8.25am of a person being thrown from a horse on Buckingham Palace Road; the second two minutes later at nearby Belgrave Square where two people were injured; and a third at 8.35am at the junction of Chancery Lane and Fleet Street, with a fourth person taken to hospital.
Pictures and videos of two of the horses running amok around London were shared on social media, one of which showed a black 4x4 with flashing blue lights following the animals between Tower Bridge and Limehouse Link tunnel. One witness, Roland, from the tour bus company Tootbus, described the chaotic scenes near Victoria, saying: “I saw horses come from the bus station in front of Victoria run around in a frenzy. People were running around to avoid them – it was total mayhem.”
Two horses were captured by officers from the City of London police. The force said on X: “At around 8.40am, we were called about horses that had became loose and were travelling through the City. A second tour bus worker, named as Mahmood, said: “One of the horses bumped into a bus, then everything got out of control. I saw two horses without riders gallop away. One rider managed to calm his horse down. An ambulance went to assist another rider who had been injured.”
“Our officers have contained two horses on the highway near Limehouse. An army horsebox collected the horses and transported them to veterinary care.” A cab driver, called Robbie, described how he narrowly avoided being hit: “I was just outside Buckingham Palace on the Mall and heard loads of galloping and looked behind and there were about three or four horses. Two of them were sprinting up towards Trafalgar Square and there was a white one covered in blood as well,” he told BBC Radio London.
The London ambulance service said it was called at 8.25am to reports of a person being thrown from a horse in Buckingham Palace Road. “I looked in the rear mirror and saw them coming right up behind me, and at the time I had two punters in the back so I was worried about them. Luckily they swerved towards the middle of the road and carried on, but they were going at some speed.”
A spokesperson said: “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. Another cab driver, Sean, described seeing three horses gallop towards Buckingham Palace.
“The incident is ongoing and we are working with our emergency services partners.” He told BBC Radio London: “I pulled out of Buckingham Palace Road, there one of the riders was on the road on his back being tended to. There was a Mercedes Vito parked outside the Grosvenor Hotel with its side smashed in and covered in blood. All the windows were smashed so I am guessing the white horse has hit that running into it.”
Bashir Aden, 48, a construction worker, told the Telegraph: “I saw a soldier falling down into the street after the horse ran into a car. One of my colleagues called the police. The man hit the floor hard, he was screaming in pain. You could see blood all over the parked car.”
Megan Morra, another witness, was walking to work between Buckingham Palace and Victoria station at 8.35am when she saw police officers “running through the street”, and another walking a “very bloody” black horse down the path. The horse “appeared to have a head injury”.
“There was a lot of blood,” she told BBC News. “I was a bit distressed to be honest, looking at the poor horse.”
An Army spokesperson said: “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. A number of personnel and horses have been injured and are receiving the appropriate medical attention.”