Blood on pavement and smashed vehicles after horses tear through London

We'll be finishing up our coverage shortly but here's some of the key developments from an unexpected event:

• Four people were injured after five horses, spooked by noise from a building site, bolted through central London
• London Ambulance Service responded to several calls at three scenes, all taking place between 08:25 and 08:35 BST
• The Army says three soldiers sustained non-life threatening injuries and are being treated in hospital - the BBC understands the fourth person injured was a cyclist
• All five horses have been returned to Hyde Park Barracks and are being looked after by vets
• Police Inspector Myles Hilbery has praised the "courageous actions" of officers who calmed the horses, provided first aid and kept roads clear for horse boxes to arrive to transport the animals to safety
• Several vehicles, including a tour bus, were damaged during the horses' sprint through central London, which began near Buckingham Palace and ended in Limehouse
• Some eyewitnesses initially thought the events were part of a film shoot or a car accident after horses sped past, with one apparently bleeding

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All five horses which broke away from riders are back in Hyde Park Barracks and being cared for by vets, the Army says.

Photos show some of the moments of their journey and the aftermath.

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Lt. Col. Woodward goes on to say the army's "immediate priority" was the safety of "all soldiers, members of the public and our horses".

He thanks a long list of emergency service providers who were involved in handling the incident this morning.

He says their quick reaction enabled "swift treatment" of the injured soldiers and horses.

Finally, he says that incidents like this are "extremely rare" and says the army is grateful to the public for "not making loud noise around our horses."

Lieutenant Colonel Matt Woodward, commanding officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, has spoken about this morning's events - shedding a bit more light on what exactly caused the horses to bolt.

In a video the British Army posted to X (formerly known as Twitter) Lt. Col. Woodward says "a small group of horses" were spooked by some construction works on a quiet Belgravia side road.

He says building materials were "dropped from a height right next to them".

The Household Cavalry, jangling up the Mall, are an important part of the King’s official birthday parade.

It’s a big, tourist-friendly event in June, with its annual Trooping the Colour ceremony.

And if these runaway horses were getting ready for that parade, then they would have been preparing for an event that must really test their temperament.

Pressing in along the route will be crowds, cameras and all the commotion of a summer’s day out.

Last year, in his first parade as monarch, King Charles was on a horse that certainly got lively with all the pressure. It was variously described as “frisky”, “spicy” and “unruly” by commentators.

And going back to the preparations ahead of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, when the media encampment was being set up, a soldier was thrown from his horse outside Buckingham Palace. An embarrassingly public place, but these things happen.

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Here's Inspector Hilbery's statement in full:

“This was a dynamic incident and the courageous actions taken by police officers from our Roads Policing team prevented further harm and distress to the horses and members of the public.

"Police Constables Lucy Hawes and Daniel McKeown risked their own safety to provide first aid to the injured and anxious horses. They kept the horses calm while waiting for a horse box and veterinary team to arrive.

“PCs Brett Daniels and Chris Wilson took over management of traffic control on the busy arterial road enabling PCs Rob Bray and Shaun Gurney on motorbikes to create a clear path for the horses to be safely led into the horse box and escorted back to the Army barracks for urgent medical care.

“Our thoughts are with those people and horses injured in the incident.”

We've now received a statement from the City of London Police's Inspector Myles Hilbery, which gives us a bit more detail about how two of the horses were recovered.

He talks about the moment officer from the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police located and stopped two horses near Limehouse.

He says the horses were "injured and anxious" and says officers "risked their own safety" to provide them with first aid and keep them calm.

An Army spokesperson has just told us three soldiers were injured and taken to hospital this morning.

A fourth soldier was thrown from their horse, but they were unharmed.

The London Ambulance Service says it treated four injured people in total and took four people to hospital after the incident.

We've had a new statement from the London Ambulance Service, which gives a bit more detail about the kind of resources that were dispatched this morning while the horses ran loose.

To recap, we already knew the ambulance service treated four patients at three locations, and those patients were taken to hospital. That still stands.

Here's the latest statement in full:

"We responded to several calls regarding an incident with horses on the loose in central London this morning (24 April).

“We sent multiple resources to the three scenes including ambulance crews, paramedics in response cars, and an incident response officer.

"We treated four patients in total and took them all to hospital and have now been stood down.”

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The horses of the Household Cavalry often have a prominent role in royal ceremonies in the UK.

According to forces.net, the horses are chosen for their height (at least 168cm) and strength as they need to be able to carry a soldier plus kit for a long period of time.

The horses are trained for several months and ridden on the streets of London to get used to heavy traffic and loud noises, including gun salutes and military bands.

Each horse is usually assigned to one specific soldier.

Central London has now quietened down following this morning's scenes. Here's what we know so far:

• Four people have been taken to hospital after five runaway horses raced through central London
• Noise from a building site in Belgravia startled the horses and caused them to bolt, unseating the riders
• The horses are "working horses" and belong to the Household Cavalry - they were preparing to be inspected ahead of reheasals for the King's birthday parade, which is due to take place in June
• The horses collided with traffic in several locations and some ran as far as Limehouse in east London
• All five horses now have been recovered, but we are still waiting for more information on their condition and the condition of the four injured people

We'll keep bringing you updates.

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Five Household Cavalry horses were spooked by noise from a building site near Buckingham Palace this morning, unseating their riders and running through London, an Army spokesman told the BBC.

All the horses have now been recovered but during their high-speed run through the city several are believed to have collided with vehicles.

We do not yet have details of how badly injured any of the horses are.

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A witness who saw two of the escaped horses running through London told the BBC it looked like a film set:

"I saw two horses, a white horse and a dark horse. The white horse was covered in blood.

"They were going really really fast, really galloping down the road. Other people around me were really shocked. I thought I was watching a film at first."

Shortly before midday, clean-up workers from TFL arrived at the scene in Limehouse where two horses were recovered.

One of the men said they had also attended the scene where a different horse crashed into a tour bus in central London.

He explained that they normally attend other types of traffic accidents.

Some residents nearby said they heard disruption outside but did not think the horse had been in distress.

One woman and her granddaughter, who did not want to be named, said they saw the ambulances and crew arrive to retrieve the horses - but there were no obvious signs of distress.

The BBC's Tony Bonsignore spoke to BBC Radio London earlier this morning.

He describes the scene when riderless horses were unexpectedly seen running through central London.

Grace Whitaker, 23, told the BBC she had just got off a bus on her way to work when she saw several emergency services vehicles near Victoria Station.

“I saw about five fire engines, six ambulances," she said.

“I saw one of the horses that was involved, saw some members of the army. It was quite the scene with lots of emergency services around putting up cordons.

“One of the black horses was there. I thought maybe it was a police horse that had come to attend to the scene but obviously I now know it was one of the horses that had escaped.

“There was a blue tent around what I assume was an injured person.

“I saw what looked like a taxi van that had damage to it, a smashed window. I think everyone’s immediate impression was that somebody had been hit by a car. We were quite surprised when we realised it was to do with horses.”

This video shows one of the horses with members of the public shortly after it ran through London streets.

It appears to be calm, but a smashed windscreen on a nearby tour bus shows how fast the animals had been running once they unseated their riders.

We're hearing from some of the Londoners who saw the loose horses this morning.

Alex Barnes, 24, did a double-take as one of the runaway horses galloped past him as he exited Victoria Station.

“I thought, ‘I swear that was a horse’. But it was pretty early and I was still half asleep so I wasn’t sure if it was.

“So I went to check it out and as I turned the corner there was a massive, loud crash and the horse had gone head on with a parked bus.

“The horse was standing in the middle of the road quite shocked. It was pretty horrible to be honest and the horse was bleeding quite a lot but a few people were trying to tend to it and get it out of the road.

“It’s not what you expect to see when you are going to work in the morning, definitely not.”

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