UPDATE 12/5: According to police, the driver of the carriage and one other passenger suffered serious injuries. Another passenger's injury was not as serious, and the two other passengers had minor bumps and bruises. The horse was sedated and loaded into a trailer to be treated. Police said the horse will be okay.
UPDATE 12/4: Kansas City police say a horse pulling a carriage on the Country Club Plaza was injured after it careened into a railing, ejecting the driver.
The horse and carriage were owned by Kansas City Carriages. That company and another carriage-ride service that operates on Country Club Plaza were not giving rides on Sunday.
Just before 8 p.m. a horse was pulling a carriage with a driver and at least four passengers down Broadway.
As it neared Ward Parkway, the horse stopped listening to commands and ran through several intersections before crashing into a wall next to a Kansas City B-Cycle rack.
The injured horse ended up on his side with the carriage still attached. The impact of the collision was so powerful it sent the driver over the railing. The passengers were not ejected.
Eyewitnesses told 41 Action News the carriage driver ended up near the sidewalk along Brush Creek.
Paramedics loaded her onto a stretcher and rushed her to the hospital. At least two other people got into an ambulance on their own.
The owners of the injured horse called for a trailer to take it away for treatment.
People on the Plaza Saturday evening described the initial scene as mayhem.
“People from everywhere were running over here wanting to know what happened and just crossing oncoming traffic trying to come and see if everything was okay,” said Heather Ost, who saw the incident from outside the MAC store.
As of 10 p.m. Sunday, one passenger is in the hospital .
The others were treated and released.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said the horse had been euthanized, which was based on information from Kansas City Police. Police later said they had gotten conflicting information and in fact the horse had not been euthanized.
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