Madrid, Sept. 24, (dpa/GNA) – A bull killed a spectator and injured four other people during a traditional bull run in central Spain, local media and the emergency services reported on Tuesday.
The incident occurred during the town festival in Pantoja, about 50 kilometres south of Madrid, when a bull broke through the barriers of the running course and gored several spectators.
An 80-year-old man died and a young girl was among the injured, but not seriously, according to public broadcaster RTVE.
Police officers shot the animal. Authorities said that they have launched an investigation.
Accidents, including fatal outcomes, are not uncommon at the summer bull runs, which have been a staple of folk festivals throughout Spain for centuries. However, those affected are usually the runners, mainly young men who lead the bulls through the cordoned-off, often very narrow streets of the old towns.
The most famous bull run takes place every year at the beginning of July in Pamplona in the north of the country.
Animal rights activists have been protesting against the bull runs for years, terming them “mediaeval cruelty.” But the races continue to attract large crowds of spectators, many of them tourists.