Crowds of families gathered to watch the annual Christmas parade in Richmond, Virginia, where a series of giant festive balloons were marched down the town's main street.
在弗吉尼亚州的里士满，很多家庭都聚集到大街上观看年度圣诞游行队伍中的各种巨型气球。
One of the first to catch the eye of spectators was a huge inflatable Rudolph - guided by volunteers using ropes.
最吸引观众眼球的是一个巨大的鲁道夫驯鹿，它由志愿者用绳子牵引着。
At first the parade goes swimmingly, until the crowd realises the balloon will not fit under a traffic light and handlers desperately attempt to move the reindeer around the obstruction.
起初游行走得很顺畅，直到人群发现气球被一个红绿灯卡住，操作手们拼命想让驯鹿越过障碍物。
However, their efforts left the balloon speared in the head by part of the traffic light's framework and hundreds of horrified children were forced to watch as the Christmas character 'died' in front of them。
然而，他们的努力使得红绿灯支架的一部分刺进了气球的顶部，结果数百名被吓到的儿童被迫看着圣诞人物“死”在他们面前
The inflatable attraction was preceded by scores of Segway riders wearing reindeer antlers who remained blissfully unaware of the fate of the act that followed.
在气球之前游行的是“赛格威”电动车，骑手们戴着驯鹿的鹿角。他们仍然喜洋洋的，全然不知后面队伍的命运。
A marching band that followed was forced to wait as the bizarre aftermath of the incident was cleared away.
随后的军乐队演奏被迫等到这个奇异事故被清理完毕。