Pamplona bull run is thrown around and trampled as more thrill seekers are injured under the hooves of rampaging animals in a Spanish town
According to local government sources in the Spanish city, more daredevils from Pamplona were injured under the hooves of bulls on the third day of the festivities. Two men were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
According to the University Hospital of Navarra, two men, aged 24 and 29, suffered facial injuries. None of them were injured by direct contact with the bulls’ horns and their lives are not in danger.
Dramatic footage shows revellers stumbling and covering their heads as they try to outrun ferocious fighting bulls during the dangerous 850-metre race through the city’s narrow streets on Tuesday morning.
This comes after one participant was gored and five others suffered bruises last weekend.
A 37-year-old man from Beriain, near Pamplona, where the festival takes place every July, has suffered the only injury resulting in serious blood loss so far this year.
Revelers run during the Running of the Bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain, on Tuesday
‘Mozos’, or runners, are chased by a group of bulls from the Herederos de Victoriano del Rio ranch as they run together through the streets during the third ‘encierro’, or running of the bulls, of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on Tuesday
Some riders are run over by a group of bulls from the Herederos de Victoriano del Rio ranch that run through the streets during the third ‘encierro’ on Tuesday
The other five victims were a 54-year-old man from New York. All six runners who went to the hospital were men.
Since records began in 1910, sixteen people have died at the annual festival, most recently in 2009. Many more have been injured while trying to avoid the wild animals.
The festivities, which include bull runs, concerts, religious processions and copious amounts of wine, were made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises.
The curtain rose on Saturday on nine days of festivities as thousands of people filled the city’s central square for the ‘chupinazo’ – the fireworks display that kicks off an event with origins in the Middle Ages.
Partygoers dressed in the essential white outfits with a red bandana around their neck and celebrated by showering each other with wine and sangria.
Two men were injured during Tuesday’s run, but their injuries were not life-threatening, according to the University Hospital of Navarra
Revellers fall over during the third day of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona on Tuesday
During the San Fermin celebrations it is traditional to wear a white and a red sash and handkerchief
Revelers surround a wild cow during the San Fermin festival
The bull running on Tuesday morning at 8am was the third of eight so-called ‘encierros’ and is the highlight of the festival.
Led by six oxen, the bulls began their half-mile race through the streets of Pamplona’s old town.
According to commentators, the morning run was ‘fast and clean’ and lasted just 2 minutes and 26 seconds.
However, bulls were also seen colliding with runners as they headed into an alley.
The bulls that run every morning are killed in the afternoon by professional bullfighters.
Five women attended the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain yesterday
Revellers attend the parade of ‘Gigantes and Cabezudos’ (Giants and Big Head Puppets) as part of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona on Sunday
Partygoers wait at the gate for the start of the first ‘encierro’
Every year, between 200 and 300 people are injured during the festival, often foreigners from Britain, the US and Australia.
The most recent death occurred in 2009, when 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno from Madrid was gored in the neck by a bull named Capuchino.
Animal rights activists campaign against the festival every year, saying it is cruel to animals who are goaded into killing them in front of a roaring crowd.
This annual festival commemorates the city’s first bishop and patron saint, San Fermin.
The origins of the bull runs lie in the ancient custom of transporting bulls from the fields outside the city, where they were bred, to the arena, where they were slaughtered.
During this ‘run’, local youth jumped between the participants in an attempt to show their courage.
Bull runs are practiced in several cities and towns in Spain and in some cities in Mexico. The Pamplona run is considered the most famous.
A ‘recortador’ (bull groomer) jumps over a bull in the Plaza de Toros bullring during a show after the first day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on Saturday
A recortador is run over by an angry bull in the Plaza de Toros bullring during a show after the first day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona
Participants covered their heads as the bull jumped over them as he was driven into the arena
A participant is hit by a young cow during a show after the second ‘encierro’ (running of the bulls) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona
