Media implicated in stampede. Dispute over cause of injury. 3 News report from New Zealand that, at the controversial annual "Running of the Sheep" in Te Kuiti : " a woman was bowled over by the marauding mob, her injuries no laughing matter . .." The event co-organiser, John Fagan was reported in The Waikato Times as saying: "We underestimated the crowd at the beginning of the sheep run and they (the crowd) kept coming in on the sheep and the opening kept getting smaller and smaller and just baulked them a bit." However, in a developing controversy, he denied the 3 News suggestion that injuries were caused by the rampaging sheep: A woman was also injured, but Mr Fagan denied reports it was the fault of the sheep. "A lady who was watching stood back, and caught her heel on something and fell backwards ... it wasn't as if she was caught in a stampede or anything." It seems the catastrophe could have been precipitated by the media itself: ...
Stirring grist, grizzle and gore to flavour the stew.