Extract 3 - Horse Racing

...with a rising buzz at the sighting of the still distant leaders, drama broke prematurely.

As heads began to turn and the spectators to lean out for a better view, one end of the tottering grandstand gave way, spilling people and heavy boards together down on to those below. A few remained, clinging to the remaining rail, or swung down harmlessly in a controlled fall. Helpers converged quickly to scrabble among the wreckage towards those groaning underneath, or to catch children passed down to safety from above.

One more moment, and the disaster was forgotten by all except those caught up in it directly; for the first horses were thundering up the finishing straight. Cheers went up for the gallant winner who had galloped nineteen miles. A moment later, all hell broke loose.

Through the increasing dust cloud galloped horse after horse, still tightly packed and racing hard after all those miles... a stampede began, as those supporters who had followed the last few miles on horseback scooped up the mounted spectators at the finish, and all raced pell-mell together beside the finishing funnel to greet their own competitors...

As the backmarkers trailed in, they were overtaken by the first of the ambulances, threading a path from the broken grandstand through the dust and horses to escape at the funnel exit. It was utter bedlam. To be a spectator on foot felt like walking through a herd of charging buffalo, and about half as safe. The riot police wisely took cover.

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