All hell broke loose at the fourth of July Independence day parade being held in the town of Bellevue along the Iowa-Illinois border when two horses pulling a wagon bolted and charged into the crowd killing a 60 year old woman and injuring 23 other people, four of them critically.
The incident happened after one of the horses rubbed it’s head against the other which led to the removal of the bridle after which they galloped several blocks with the wagon trampling people.
A crowd of about 10,000 people had gathered to watch the parade and all was going well when at around 11:00 am the horses ran riot. The injured include several children who came in the way of the wagon as they were picking up sweets that were being distributed as part of the parade. People suffered several broken bones, collapsed lungs and head injuries. The identity of the dead woman has not yet been revealed by the police but it has been confirmed that she died at the University of Iowa hospital in Iowa city.
“They took off the street uncontrollably,” Bellevue fire chief Chris Roling announced. As per reports they ran for about six blocks stepping and crushing everything that came in their way.
Independence Day parade is a yearly feature in the town of 2300 people and horses have been a part of it for a very long time.