Horses crash into designer clothes shop window near Royal Ascot.
Day Three of Royal Ascot ended in horrific circumstances when a horse-drawn carriage lost control, with horses pulling it bolting across a roundabout and smashing through the window of a clothing store on Ascot High Street.
The incident was witnessed by many of the 70,000 crowd in attendance at the traditional Ladies’ Day meeting, with fears that one of the horses had suffered fatal injuries.
The injured animal was seen to be laying on its side and bleeding profusely from a what appeared to be a leg wound.
Witnesses said that one of the horses appeared to panic and then took off at a gallop down the road, causing the carriage to lose control. Marks were clearly evident across the curb where the two lead horses tried to steady themselves before crashing through the window of the shopfront.
Gary Copeland, who witnessed the incident while driving behind the carriage, told bbc.co.uk that one of the horses “flipped over” while the other was “jammed into the window”.
“Suddenly I saw the horses start to bolt and pulling down the high street very, very quickly – out of control,” Copeland told the BBC.
“At the roundabout one of the horses flipped over and landed on the floor. The carriage carried straight on to the pavement.
“I could see one of the horses jammed into the window of the dress shop. I saw people on the floor – they may have been thrown off the carriage.”
Royal Ascot officials said that the carriage was operated by a private company and not affiliated with the racecourse. They also said that they believe one person had suffered minor injuries.
One horse was taken away by an equine ambulance while the other two appeared unhurt.
The shop was closed at the time with no-one inside.
