Three hurt, horses spared in Philadelphia carriage accident

Investigation snarled major intersection near Ben Franklin Bridge

Police continue to investigate a traffic accident in Center City Philadelphia that could have involved twisted metal and horses.

The run in at 6th and Race Street involved a car and three horse drawn carriages.

Dozens of people gathered to snap pictures of the scene. A row of horses stood near a carriage that was wrapped around a fence, and one that had slammed into a tree.

When Marian Tison heard about the accident, like many of the onlookers, she admits her first thought was whether the horses were okay–not the people.

“I expected to see a lot of blood…I thought there were going to be horses like laying on the street but luckily the horses were fine.”

Tison says drivers try to beat the traffic light, and end up cutting off the slow-moving horse carriages.

“Drivers just need to be more cautious, they more to be patient. Obviously these horses aren’t going to be walking at the speed that they want them to go. But it’s part of the attraction of our city – the horse and buggy is part of one of the tourist things in our city”

Police say the car hit one of the carriages and caused a chain reaction. There were no injuries to any of the animals. Two of the carriage drivers are in serious but stable condition. The driver of the car is in stable condition.