An 82-year-old from southwest Iowa is now the second woman to die this week after being injured in a 4th of July parade. Betty Sprague was one of three people who were thrown from a wagon during the 4th of July parade in Bedford. She died Wednesday at an Omaha hospital. Authorities say the wagon Sprague was riding in during the parade broke loose from the team of ponies that were pulled it.
The wagon struck a curb and the three passengers were thrown from the wagon. Authorities say there was either a problem with the yoke that connected the ponies to the wagon, or something was wrong with the “tongue” of the wagon. That’s the long, thin part of the front of the wagon that reaches out to the animals pulling it.
An eastern Iowa woman died Sunday after being thrown from a buggy being pulled by two horses that bolted during the “Heritage Days” parade in Bellevue. See related story in link below:
www.radioiowa.com/2010/07/05/bellevue-mayor-says-town-in-shock-after-july-4th-parade-tragedy