Bull run tragedy: One dead, three injured in Spain festival event
One person is dead, and three were injured during a bull run organized in connection with a local festival in the town of Pantoja in central Spain, the country's media reported. The police shot the animal.
12:33 PM EDT, September 25, 2024
In recent days, traditional bull runs have been taking place in some towns in Spain. During these events, crowds of people run along a prepared route, attempting to escape from the animals heading towards the location of the controversial bullfight.
During the run organized on Tuesday, a bull broke through the protective barriers at one point along the route, killing a 73-year-old man and injuring three people, including a four-year-old girl.
On Wednesday morning, the press reported that two people are still in the hospital, and one of them, an 83-year-old man, is in the intensive care unit.
Local authorities have declared an official day of mourning, expressing regret over the tragic events. This is not the first time animals have injured or killed participants during a traditional run. Last year, in Pamplona, bulls wounded as many as six people.
Unlike the bullfight, during the bull run (encierro), the bull is not killed, and the goal is the run itself and the accompanying adrenaline. The most famous encierro takes place in the first half of July in Pamplona during the festival in honor of the city's patron saint, Saint Fermin.
Although it is accepted that bulls are not killed during the encierro, in extreme cases of threat to human life, the authorities monitoring the event decide to take such a step. For this reason, animal rights foundations and an increasing number of Spaniards oppose this age-old tradition.
