Man gored in mouth and five injured during controversial bull running festival
One man was gored in the mouth and five others were taken to hospital after they were injured at a bull running festival in northern Spain.
The controversial event takes place every July in Pamplona and sees cows let loose to run through the city centre’s narrow streets as hundreds of people attempt to outrun or avoid them.
A 37-year-old man from the nearby town of Beriáin was injured by one of the bull’s horns, suffering wounds to his palate.
Five other men, including a 54-year-old from New York, who were smashed into by the stampeding bulls reportedly suffered severe bruising and were taken to hospital.
It happened at around 8am after six bulls were released for the ‘running of the bulls’ event or ‘La Palmosilla’, whereby people sprint along an 850-metre road to the Pamplona bullring.
Two of the bulls became detached from the group and caused chaos in the street during the first of eight so-called ‘encierros’, said to be the highlight of the festival.
Some participants were goading the animals, some of which weigh more than 600kg, with commentators saying it was a miracle no-one was more seriously hurt or killed.
As the animals entered the bullring at the end of the course, they remained there for around one minute before ranchers guided them away and then crammed them into pens.
There have been 16 deaths recorded at the annual festival, which was made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, since records began in 1910.
The most recent fatality was in 2009 when Daniel Jimeno, a 27-year-old from Madrid, was gored in the neck.
Around 200 to 300 people are injured during the bull runs every year at the event, which was protested against by animal welfare groups again this year.
Campaigners say bullfighting is ‘medieval cruelty’ and slammed the bloody fights and the deaths of the animals involved.
Thousands of people still attend the San Fermin festival every year, which showcases Spain’s culture and the ‘bull chase’ is considered an integral part of its unique identity.
On Friday, a huge herd of cows managed to break loose and cause havoc in a country village in North Yorkshire.
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