Exercise rehearses for the worst in city fun zone

CINCINNATI (AP) — Hundreds of people, some covered in fake blood, are playing victims of a terrorist attack in Cincinnati’s riverside entertainment area in training exercise.

The morning-long exercise at The Banks area and at Great American Ball Park, where the Cincinnati Reds play, used a scenario of a large truck carrying chemicals crashing into a crowd. Regional emergency management agencies, first responders and hospitals were taking part in the large-scale exercise .

High School students applied moulage to casualty actors from Cincinnati-area colleges.

Such major exercises are held every three years. This one comes on the eve of Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest celebration.

First responders some 55 miles (89 kilometers) north in Dayton dealt with mass casualties on Aug. 4 when a gunman killed nine people and injured dozens more in the Oregon entertainment district.