The encierro or running of the bulls event in Pamplona, Spain is the most famous of all the encierros.
Like each year, several revelers are gored, not rarely including some of the 800 000 tourists that were estimated to be present over the weekend in Pamplona. On Thursday, thirteen were admitted to the hospital and seven were gored, three of which had to undergo hospital operations.
A 48-year-old man from Pamplona was in a very serious condition after being gored in the chest. Other serious incidents involved a Mexican and a German man in their twenties. Runners from Poland, Norway, Spain and the United States also sustained injuries.
The run on Thursday lasted six minutes, where a normal run is only two minutes long. Normally the pack of bulls stays together, but in this run they separated, which is more dangerous for the runners. Since 1924, 13 deadly victims were counted, the last of which was an American in 1995.
The 825 meter run is part of the nine day long Fiesta of San FermÃÂn, which became famous after Ernest Hemingway described the running in his 1926 book The Sun Also Rises. The end of the run is the bullring where the matadors will deal with the bulls.
Animal rights activists protest the bullrunning because they believe the tradition is cruel. Tomorrow the eighth and final run will be held, at 8:00 a.m. local time.
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The bulls and steers running through the narrow streets. |
In the bullring. |
Credit: Baltasar GarcÃÂa |
Credit: Baltasar GarcÃÂa |
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The encierro is part of the festival for Saint Fermin. |
