Runnings of the bulls: two Australians among three people gored
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Version 0 of 1. Three people, including two Australian men, have been gored during the last bull run of the San Fermin festival in the Spanish city of Pamplona. During the last and longest of the running of the bulls events, a bull weighing more than half a ton, slipped and separated from the pack of six bulls and six steers which were making their way down an 800m path through the streets of the city. The bull, named Olivito, repeatedly charged a 26-year-old Australian, referred to only as JG, goring him in the chest, left thigh and abdomen. Photographs taken of the incident show JG trying to escape through a fence as an older man tries to distract the bull and pull it away from him. San Fermin organisers said the wounds were not life-threatening, despite the dramatic images showing large injuries to his thigh. JM, a 24-year-old man from Grenfell in New South Wales, was gored in the right thigh and was treated in hospital and released. A 21-year-old Spaniard was in a serious condition after being gored by the same animal and another five Spanish men were taken to hospital with other injuries. In all, 42 people have ended up in hospital after taking part in the bull runs at this year's festival, including eight for gorings. Dozens more were treated at the scene for scrapes, cuts and bruises suffered in falls. Ten Australians are among the dozens of people who have been injured since 2010. Authorities are seeking to identify one man who has been photographed appearing to take a selfie while being chased by a bull. The man, dubbed “the idiot with the mobile” on social media, has been criticised for reckless behaviour and potentially endangering others. He faces a potential fine of up to €3,000 (A$ 4,300). The bulls from the Miura ranch in Seville, southern Spain, took four minutes 47 seconds to tear along a winding course from their holding pen to Pamplona's bullring where they face matadors and death in the afternoon. The morning bull runs are the highlight of the nine-day festival which dates back to the Middle Ages and was immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises. They are believed to have started when butchers began running ahead of the beasts they were bringing from the countryside to the San Fermin festival. The festival also includes bullfights, with the animals from the morning runs facing off with matadors in the ring in the evening, as well as concerts, nightly fireworks and religious processions. But it has become notorious for its raucous nightlife, with bars staying open until 7am. Fifteen people have died in the bull runs since records started in 1911, most recently in 2009 when a 27-year-old Spanish man was gored through the neck and chest. |