‘Like a bucking bronco,’ spooked camel at Pittsburgh circus injures seven

A spooked camel was “like a bucking bronco” while it was giving rides during a circus intermission, one witness told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“I was shouting, ‘Jesus help them,’” witness Jenny Lynch told the newspaper. “It was very scary.”

A video from one witness shows the camel running wild while at the Shrine Circus in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon.

In the video, the camel can be seen running amok as a woman hangs on to its back.

She was one of three people who were on the camel when it became startled, Fox reported. The two other riders were children.

“In this case, the children were riding camels on the main floor of PPG Arena when one camel, for reasons still undetermined, got spooked and bucked,” Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said in a press conference recorded by the Post-Gazette.

“They went crazy and they just started running everywhere...,” witness Marlo Shipeck told KDKA.

In a video obtained by KDKA, an announcer was heard saying: “Ladies and gentlemen, remain calm please. Please remain calm. No unnecessary movement. Slowly leave the arena floor if you feel safer. We are looking for a medic, an EMT.”

Togneri said handlers got the camels “completely under control within 11 seconds.” No other animals on the circus floor were affected during the incident, he said.

Seven people — six kids and one adult — were injured and taken to a hospital, KDKA reported. One child had a fractured arm, and the others had minor injuries.

“The show did continue — there were no other interruptions,” Togneri said at the press conference.