Newspaper: Horses spooked during Iowa July Fourth parade injure more than a dozen people

Spooked horses take off, injure Iowa parade-goers

BELLEVUE, Iowa — Two horses became spooked during a Fourth of July parade in eastern Iowa and ran out-of-control along the parade route, jumping curbs, hitting signs and cars and trampling onlookers, an Iowa newspaper reported Sunday.

The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reported at least 13 people were injured, including several children.

The horses ran for about eight blocks, galloping over curbs and children, in Bellevue, about 25 miles south of Dubuque on the Iowa-Illinois border.

Then, the horses hit a large street sign, flipping the buggy they were pulling and ejecting two people in it, the newspaper reported. The animals ran another two blocks before running into a trailer hitched to a van.

Carol Dietzel, house supervisor at Mercy Medical Center-Dubuque, said 10 patients were brought there, nine of them children. She said one child in critical condition was flown to University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City.

Another child in critical condition was in surgery and also was expected to be transferred to University of Iowa Hospital, she said.

A third child and an adult, both in fair condition, were awaiting surgery at Mercy Medical Center.

Dietzel said other patients were taken to Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Jackson County Hospital in Maquoketa and Medical Associates Acute Care clinic in Dubuque. Two people taken to the clinic were treated and released.

Officials at Finley Hospital in Dubuque said a 70-year-old woman in serious condition was flown to University of Iowa Hospital.

A person who answered the phone at the Bellevue Police Department told The Associated Press it would issue a statement shortly. Mayor Virgil Murray did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press.