LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – A woman is dead after getting caught under a float in the St. Patrick’s Parade in the Highlands on Saturday.
Louisville Metro Police were dispatched at around 4 p.m. on a report of someone being struck by a vehicle near Bardstown Road and Grinstead Drive in the area of the St. Patrick’s Parade.
Preliminary investigation revealed that a woman participating in the parade was walking alongside a float on Bardstown Road when, for an unknown reason, her foot got caught by the float. She then fell and got caught under the vehicle and was struck.
She was taken to UofL Hospital by EMS for treatment, where she was eventually pronounced dead.
LMPD’s Traffic Unit is leading the investigation.
Thousands of people lined the streets Saturday watching floats, listening to music and celebrating with their families — most, unaware of what had happened nearby.
David Gnamba was working his family’s food truck across the street when he noticed the commotion. It was his second year at the parade.
“I seen the EMS attending to somebody… I saw somebody on the stretcher, not thinking it was something very serious,” Gnamba said.
When he learned what had happened, the news hit him hard.
“It does break my heart because that’s a person that lost their life… this is not news that we want to hear — as human beings, as vendors, as people, as partygoers,” Gnamba said.
Stephanie Youstra, who has marched in the parade as a mascot for nearly 10 years, said she had finished her part of the route when she noticed floats behind her had stopped moving. That’s when she learned from other parade participants that something had gone terribly wrong.
“My heart goes out to anyone who was in that float, and all the people in that float, and the family… I just, I can’t imagine what they are all feeling,” Youstra said.
Some parade attendees said the incident raises concerns about safety at large public gatherings like parades and festivals, and what more can be done to prevent another tragedy.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg posted his condolences online following the incident.
“I am so sorry to hear about the tragic accident that took a woman’s life at today’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade,” Greenberg wrote. “Please join Rachel and me in keeping her family and friends in your prayers. May her memory be a blessing.”
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