Five military horses, including one soaked in blood, ran through the streets of London near Buckingham Palace on Wednesday morning, reportedly injuring four people.
Household Cavalry horses went rogue after throwing their riders off when the sounds of nearby construction workers doing their jobs scared them, according to The Telegraph. The riders and horses were on an exercise routine at the time of the incident.
The horses bolted, and some reportedly crashed into a double-decker bus and a Mercedes-Benz. One of the animals crashed into a taxi outside of a hotel and shattered the windows, a witness told the outlet.
“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?'” the taxi driver told LBC News. “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.”
Videos shared on Twitter show the horses barreling down the London streets. One bloodstained horse can be seen galloping through traffic. (RELATED: Horse Gets Loose In What Might Be The Worst Possible Place).
NEW – Blood-covered horses run loose through London.pic.twitter.com/lRaaaLIyhB
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 24, 2024
“I saw horses come from the bus station in front of Victoria run around in a frenzy,” a tour bus company worker who was at the scene told The Telegraph. “People were running around to avoid them — it was total mayhem.”
🚨#BREAKING: The Metropolitan Police says two horses currently loose in central London. pic.twitter.com/3vJlIZUOOI
— World Source News 24/7 (@Worldsource24) April 24, 2024
The London Ambulance Service said on Twitter they responded to several calls regarding the incident and transported four patients to a hospital.
Three soldiers were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Lt. Colonel Matt Woodward, commanding officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, said.
All of the horses have since been recovered, the Westminster Police said. They are currently undergoing veterinary care, Woodward added.