German riders injured as horses run amok

Forty-four people were injured, most of them children, when 100 horses ran amok during a night-time torchlit procession in Germany.

Around 100 children, aged between 8 and 17 and accompanied by six adults, were riding in Emsland, northwestern Germany, when something spooked the horses, causing them to unseat their riders and trample those on the ground.

One 14-year-old girl was in critical condition after the incident but was now stable, police said.

Exactly what frightened the animals is being investigated, a police spokesman has told television channel N-TV.

However German media has reported that one of the adults dropped a burning torch.

The terrified horses were eventually rounded up while the injured people were taken to hospital.