Three people in hospital after stand collapses at Trooping the Colour rehearsal
21 May 2022, 14:25 | Updated: 21 May 2022, 18:01
Three people have been taken to hospital after sections of the spectator stands collapsed during a Trooping the Colour rehearsal in London.
A total of five people were treated for injuries following the incident in Horse Guards Road at about 11am on Saturday morning, London Ambulance Service (LAS) said.
Dozens had turned up to watch the event, which is the Major General's review of the parade ahead of the full event on June 2 for the Queen's Jubilee celebrations.
Witnesses said crowds were evacuated by the emergency services and the ceremony, which involves a parade by the Household Division and Horse Guards, was cut short.
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A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We sent a tactical response unit, an ambulance crew, two cycle responders and an incident response officer.
"We worked alongside St John Ambulance volunteers to treat five people at the scene.
"We took one patient to a major trauma centre as a priority. St John Ambulance took a second patient to a major trauma centre as a priority.
"We discharged three patients at the scene. We later arranged transport to hospital for one of these patients."
One Twitter user wrote: "Was fun experience to watch until we stood up for the National Anthem, the stand next to us collapsed with someone falling through."
"They cut the proceedings short and police began evacuating us for safety concerns as there had already been 2 collapses with fear of more.
"Was certainly a very 'British' experience with us queuing for an hour to watch marching horses and soldiers."
Another witness said: "There was a loud bang then a scream and a voice shouting 'help, help.'
"A number of ambulances were at that location and stretchers were brought out for the casualties."
Footage shared to Twitter showed people walking through the Horse Guards Parade away from empty stands.
The Ministry of Defence has since confirmed that sections of the spectator stands collapsed.
An Army spokesman said: "During the Major General's Review on Horse Guards Parade, two parts of the viewing stand unfortunately gave way, resulting in a small number of injuries.
"The emergency services were called to assist those who were injured and the remaining crowds were safely evacuated from the stands.
"Safety is our number one priority and we are urgently working with our partners and relevant organisations to understand what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again."
