AN eight-year-old girl is in a serious condition in hospital this evening after being impaled by a metal spike at the Dublin Horse Show.

The young girl suffered horrific injuries when part of a stand collapsed in the main hall.

Witnesses described how a piece of metal pierced the young girl's neck and head in the incident yesterday afternoon.

A doctor who was at the scene provided immediate medical attention while the child and her distraught family awaited an ambulance.

The young girl was then rushed to Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin where she remained overnight.

This morning a spokesperson for the hospital described her condition as "stable".

The child is believed to have been with her mother and cousins at the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stand when it collapsed. Onlookers were aghast to see a piece of metal seemingly pierce through the 8-year-old's neck.

examination

The stand was sealed off with heavy tarpaulin immediately after it collapsed. The scene was cordoned off and Gardai and health and safety officers conducted and examination.

No one else was injured in the collapse of the stand that could accommodate up to 20 people.

"It was a display unit that collapsed in the Main Hall at 4.55pm," said a garda spokesperson.

She confirmed that a young girl was injured in the collapse.

"There was a doctor on the scene that attended to the girl and she was taken to Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin," the garda spokesperson said.

"The Health and Safety Authority would be advised on that and gardai are investigating."

Sources close to the Dublin Horse Show have said that they have heard positive reports about the young girl's condition today but that they have had no concrete update.

Today the Dublin Horse Show began as usual at 8am but the DSPCA stand remained closed.

A spokesperson for the DSPCA confirmed that the incident took place yesterday evening but that details of what went wrong had not yet emerged.

The DSPCA will be investigating the collapse of the stand.

"We have to make certain we know what happened," said a spokesperson.

The people at the DSPCA stand were not invited guests but members of the public.

In relation to the incident a spokesperson for the Dublin Horse Show said: "We have no comment as yet."

The trade stand that collapsed would be about 5 meters by 5 meters in size and could accommodate about 15 to 20 people. It is unclear how many people were at the stand when it collapsed.

This is the second freak accident to hit the Dublin Horse Show this year. At a photo-call for the event a few weeks ago on July 22, the model Pippa O'Connor was knocked from a horse and the animal then fell on her.

The sister of horse jumper Cian O'Connor was injured in the accident and was rushed to St Vincent's Hospital. She was not wearing riding boots or a helmet when she was thrown from the horse.

The 23-year-old Assets model said she felt "lucky to be alive" after the incident.

The accident happened after the model was asked if she could sit side-saddle on Captain Curran-Cournane's horse Ballymoney.

crushing

Shortly after she mounted the animal, it reared up on its hind legs, knocking her to the ground before crushing her.

An ambulance was called after the model began to complain about her vision and a pain in her chest, and drifted in and out of consciousness.

After being admitted to nearby St Vincent's Hospital, she was quickly joined by her father Tadhg and later by her partner, TV presenter Brian Ormond.

Today other trade stands reopened in the RDS main hall and events at the Dublin Horse Show continued with a full programme from 8am to 7pm.

Tomorrow is the final day of the event and the show will wrap up with the Hunt Chase at 6.15pm.