Several people have been injured after a panic at the Washington DC LGBTQ pride parade.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Dupont Circle for the parade when people started running after hearing what they thought was gunshots.

Kevin Donahue, the deputy mayor for public safety, tweeted: “There are injuries from people running from what they thought were gunshots. But there is NO ACTIVE SHOOTER at Dupont Circle.”

Dustin Sternbeck, a police spokesman, said a gun was recovered by police in a backpack, but added no gunshots were fired and no-one was shot.

A fire department spokesman says emergency medical personnel tended to people who were injured as people ran away from the scene.

He could not immediately provide any additional information about the number of victims or the extent of their injuries.