At least 19 people - including a young boy - were injured last night after two horses dragging a carriage ran amok along Front Street during the first Harbour Night of the year.

The out-of-control animals ploughed into the back of a dense crowd of unsuspecting tourists and locals watching a Gombeys’ performance at about 7.30 p.m., trapping people beneath the wheels of the vehicle.

Police, ambulances and firefighters rushed to the scene and shocked eye witnesses reported seeing victims with head wounds and others unconscious being put onto stretchers.

A Public Safety Ministry spokeswoman said 19 people were hurt but none of the injuries were life threatening. The casualties - who were treated at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital - are understood to be a mixture of visitors and locals. The number could rise today as people were still walking into the emergency room as The Royal Gazette went to press last night.

The horses - believed to belong to Dockyard stable owner Ray Bean - bolted close to the bird cage, dragging their owner behind them before he got pinned between his carriage and another. The extent of Mr. Bean’s injuries was not known but witnesses said he ran after the horses even after being trampled.

The animals galloped along Front Street as scores of bystanders leapt out of their way until they reached the flagpole opposite Butterfield Bank. The crowd there couldn’t hear the horses’ hooves or warning shouts because of the loud music so failed to move out of the way.

Carlos Symonds, principal of Clearwater Middle School, was there with some students. “People were screaming; it was surreal,” he said. “It was bloody. I saw at least eight people lying on the ground, maybe even 12.”

Hamilton Mayor Sutherland Madeiros was visibly distressed as he described how he watched helplessly from the sidelines as the animals trampled spectators.

“I was just outside Crissons and I heard people shouting and I looked back and it was just two horses coming straight down Front Street at full gallop. It was like a parting of the river as people got out of the way. It just happened so fast.

“The crowd was so dense that they just couldn’t hear the noise and had no idea what was about to happen. Now you think: could you have grabbed the reins?”

Ellen-Kate Horton, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs, which organises the weekly Wednesday Harbour Nights along with Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, the Bank of Bermuda and Spanish Town Entertainment, said: “Nobody could have stopped them. Fortunately down here all the children got out of the way although there was one little boy injured.”

She said she saw casualties bleeding with leg and head injuries. “I saw bone,” she added. “People just fell. A lot of people got knocked over here.”

Community Affairs Minister Wayne Perinchief - who was seen helping to lift the carriage off the injured - described the incident as “extremely frightening”.

He said: “I saw two horses running very rapidly at a full gallop pulling a carriage. The Gombeys were dancing and the crowd was here. Some people were shouting to get the crowd to move but the horses ran right into the crowd and fell. The horses actually ran over the crowd.”

He said a group of spectators quickly got underneath the carriage and lifted it up while local men calmed the horses. “A lot of those under the carriage didn’t move. I saw at least a dozen casualties. It seemed that most of the injured were visitors but we had a few local injuries also.

“We don’t know why the horses got spooked. It’s very unfortunate and we just give our regrets that this happened. I can’t remember any incident like this before at Harbour Nights.”

A hospital spokeswoman said emergency room staff stayed after their shifts to cope with the influx of patients but it had quietened down by midnight. “Hospital staff responded really well,” she added.

Chamber of Commerce president Diane Gordon said the horse and carriage rides were specifically kept away from the crowd during Harbour Nights for safety reasons and added that nothing like this had happened before.

She said: “This is devastating. Safety is a big concern for us. Something must have really spooked these horses for this to happen.”

Philip Barnett, who takes on the chamber presidency next week, added: “It’s a tragic situation. Harbour Nights is supposed to be a fun and exciting evening and for this to happen is horrible. We are extremely concerned about the condition of the people injured.”

Premier Ewart Brown is off Island but Acting Premier Paula Cox rushed to the scene with Acting Public Safety Minister Neletha Butterfield to meet witnesses. Ms Cox described the witnesses as examples of the “triumph of the human spirit” because they were so concerned for the wellbeing of the injured.

Ms Butterfield, who later attended the hospital, said: “I would like to reassure the families and wish those injured a speedy recovery. I would also offer my thanks to the emergency services personnel who handled a difficult situation well and the staff of the emergency room at KEMH. who provided care to the injured.

“As more details become available officers from the Bermuda Police Service and from the Ministry of the Environment, Telecommunication and e-Commerce will be better placed to determine just what caused this unfortunate event.”

Glenn Doers, general manager of Spanish Town, praised the crowd’s response but said most people were powerless to help. “You see a horse and carriage flying through a crowd of people and you can’t do anything. You have a sense of hopelessness and senselessness.”

Did you witness the incident? Contact the newsroom on 278-0133 or 278-0137 or email newsroyalgazette.bm.