Five injured as Household Cavalry horses - including one covered in blood - smash through London in six-mile rampage

24 April 2024, 12:15 | Updated: 24 April 2024, 15:03

Read the latest: Horses spooked by 'big bang' when builders' concrete clattered to the ground

Five people have been injured after seven escaped Household Cavalry horses tore through central London on Wednesday morning.

The spooked horses ran through the capital after escaping military exercises, with one covered in blood after smashing into a tourist bus. Another crashed into a taxi.

They were seen running through traffic in Victoria, central London, and even going as far east as Aldwych and Limehouse.

Four people have been taken to hospital after they were hurt by the rampaging horses.

Police and the army both said that they had been recovered by about 11am.

Live updates: Household cavalry horses on the loose in London

No official explanation has been given yet as to what caused the horses to bolt, although reports have emerged that they were spooked by the noise of builders moving concrete in Belgravia.

One of the horses lifted itself onto its hind legs and smashed itself through the front of a stationary Big Bus Tour vehicle in Victoria.

Horses seen running through London

Another horse hit a van being driven by a taxi driver.

Faraz told LBC that he was sat in his car with a passenger outside the Clermont Hotel when the right side of his vehicle was smashed into. "I was just sitting by he car with my passenger," he said.

"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’," he said.

"It was just like a smash, his head hit it very hard and then [went] down. I saw about three four horses, and I think it was the white horse which hit my car."

Horse's six-mile rampage

1. Five riders lose control of their horses at Hyde Park Barracks
2. Police rush to an incident on Belgrave Square; two people found injured
3. Five horses seen running down Lower Belgrave Street. Rider thrown to the ground and injured; horse collides with a car of Buckingham Palace Road. It is caught by members of the public
4. Four horses remain on the loose; one hits a tourist bus near Victoria Station. It is then brought under control
5. Two horses filmed bolting through traffic on The Strand. One is covered in blood.
6. Injured man seen in Fleet Street
7. Two horses run through Limehouse Link, close to Tower Bridge

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One witness, called Tyme, told LBC: "I saw the horses come charging down...the horses hit the Mercedes van. The rider on it fell back [into the middle of the road].

"The other woman lost control of the horse and she managed to grab the railings."

Tyme continued: "The other horse charged down and hit one of the buses, smashed the whole front of the windscreen. The horses were injured from the glass."

She added that the soldier who was thrown off the horse "hurt himself pretty bad" and was seen "lying on the ground".

"It was terrible," she told LBC at the scene.

One of the horses was brought under control by police in Westminster and two more by City of London police on the Highway near Limehouse.

An Army spokesperson said: “A number of military working horses become 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.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 8:25am today (April 24) to reports of a person being thrown from a horse on Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W.

“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.

“The incident is still ongoing and we are working with our emergency services partners.”