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RUNAWAY HORSES HURT TUCSON MAYOR, WIFE

TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 24, 2006

(CBS/AP) Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup and his wife were taken to a hospital Thursday after being slightly injured by two runaway horses in the Fiesta de los Vaqueros Parade, authorities said.

The Walkups were in a buggy when it was struck from behind by a wagon in the 81st annual parade near the city's rodeo grounds at around 10 a.m., said Capt. Paul McDonough, a Tucson Fire Department spokesman.

Authorities said two runaway horses crashed into the rear of a wagon carrying Walkup and his wife, Beth.

The horses, pulling another wagon, had galloped past six other vehicles in the parade after they became spooked.

That wagon was carrying reporters and anchor crews from television station KOLD in Tucson. None of the ten people in the wagon, including four children, was hurt.

A station staff member had a camera and recorded the incident as the horses then crashed into the carriage in front of them.

There was no word on what caused the horses to take off.

The mayor suffered bruising and swelling to his right forearm, but X-rays taken at University Medical Center showed no fractures, said Dr. Harvey Meislin, the hospital's director of emergency services. The injury was treated with ice.

Beth Walkup had a bruised scalp, but X-rays and a CT scan of her head and neck showed no other injury, Meislin said. She was complaining of neck pains and a headache after the accident.

The Walkups left the hospital Thursday afternoon.

"We're fine," the mayor told reporters outside UMC.
 

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