Man gored as Pamplona bull running festival begins
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One man has been gored and another five rushed to hospital with trauma injuries at the start of the famous Running of the Bulls festival in Spain.
A 37-year-old man from Beriáin near Pamplona, where the annual festival takes place every July, is believed to have suffered a gore injury to his palate.
The other five casualties included a 54-year-old man from New York. All six runners who needed hospital treatment were men.
The famous festival kicked off at midday on Saturday with the traditional San Fermin opening ceremony called the Chupinazo, with hundreds of revellers dressed in white outfits with a red bandana around their necks ending up soaked in wine and sangria.
Sunday morning’s 8am bull run was the first of eight so-called 'encierros' which form the highlight of the festival.
Two of the six fighting bulls, led by six steers, became detached from the rest of the group during the half-mile run through the streets of Pamplona’s old town.
They remained in the bullring at the end of the course for more than a minute before ranchers guided them away from runners massing around them into pens.
Some revellers goaded the animals, leaving commentators saying it had been a miracle no-one had been attacked and badly hurt or even killed.
Some 16 people have been killed at the annual festival, which finishes on July 14 and was made famous by 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel, , since records began in 1910.
The most recent death was in 2009 when 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno, from Madrid, was gored in the neck by a bull called Capuchino.
Between 200 and 300 are usually injured each year at the festival during the bull runs.