CENTRALIA, Wash. — Four people were seriously injured Friday after a spooked horse broke loose at the Southwest Washington Fair in Centralia.
The people were transported to Providence Hospital, Paulette Young with Risk and Safety Management said. Then a father and his 4-year-old daughter were airlifted to Harborview, where Friday night they were listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit.
The father suffered a head laceration, but the extent of most of the injuries are unknown.
According to Young, the horse belonged to a vendor at the fair and was giving carriage rides. The carriage was empty when the horse was spooked.
“We don’t know what spooked it, but the horse got spooked and got away from the handler and ran down the midway,” said the Lewis County Sheriff.
The horse was later captured and returned to his pen by someone who managed to grab the reins before more damage was done.
Carriage rides have been suspended for the rest of the week.