MCI: Emergency radio traffic & video as horses stampede during July 4th parade in Bellevue Iowa. One dead, 23 injured.
The video above includes shots of the runaway horses. Click here for more video as EMS crews treat the injured.
Excerpts from the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald:
A woman was killed and at least 23 people, including 13 children, were hospitalized by runaway horses pulling a carriage during the annual Heritage Days parade Sunday morning.
Janet Steines, 60, of Spragueville, died Sunday, according to the Hachmann Funeral Home in Bellevue. Steines, who was airlifted from a local hospital, was pronounced dead at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, according to the Bellevue Police Department.
At about 11:15 a.m., one of the two horses pulling the carriage driven by Steines’ husband, Mardell, somehow managed to rub the bridle off of the other horse, rendering him powerless to control the horses.
The horses bolted and began to run alongside the parade route. As passers-by chased them and grabbed for their reins, the horses broke into a full gallop and veered toward the street curb, where scores of children sat.
Although warning shouts prompted parents and others to try to yank children out of the horses’ path, more than a dozen children were run over by either the horses or the carriage wheels. The carriage eventually tipped over, throwing its four passengers.
