Horses Run Loose Through Central London in Surreal Spectacle

Several runaway military horses galloped through the streets of London on Wednesday morning, alarming pedestrians, sideswiping cars and buses, and turning an ordinary rush hour into a frightening, almost surreal spectacle.

One person was being treated for injuries after being thrown from a horse on Buckingham Palace Road, according to the London ambulance service. News media reports said the horses belonged to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, a ceremonial unit that parades in royal pageants.

The ambulance service said later that at least five people had been injured in three locations, from Victoria to Belgrave Square and Fleet Street. At 10:30 a.m., the Metropolitan Police said that all the horses had been recovered.

The drama began shortly after 8 a.m. when the horses were apparently spooked and threw off the riders who were exercising them as they left their barracks in Hyde Park. Photos showed a soldier being treated while lying on the ground not far from Buckingham Palace.

Shortly before 10 a.m., the City of London police reported that its officers had corralled two of the horses near Limehouse, a neighborhood adjacent to the city’s Thames docklands. That suggested they had galloped across much of London, from Westminster through Covent Garden and past the financial district.

“We’re waiting for an Army horse box to collect the horses and transport them to veterinary care,” the city police said in a statement.