Running of the Bulls in Spain:1 dead-9 injured

[vivfox]

Fri., July 10, 2009

PAMPLONA, Spain - A charging bull gored a man to death Friday at Pamplona's San Fermin festival, the first such fatality in nearly 15 years. Nine others were injured in a particularly dangerous and chaotic chapter of the running of the bulls.

The San Fermin festival Web site said the unidentified man was gored in the neck and lung during a run in which a rogue bull separated from the pack, which is among the worst things that can happen at Spain's most popular fiesta.

Photographs showed the young man lying on a stretcher moments after the goring, his face and neck stained with blood and his eyes only half-open. An emergency medical worker is leaning over him, applying what appears to be gauze to his neck wound.

Three other people were also gored, and six suffered bumps, bruises and other lesser injuries, said Fernando Boneta, director of Virgen del Camino Hospital.

The last fatal goring at the running of the bulls claimed the life of 22-year-old American Matthew Tassio in 1995. In 2003, a 63-year-old Spanish man, Fermin Etxeberri, was trampled in the head by a bull and died after spending months in a coma.

Friday's death raises to 15 the toll since record-keeping began in 1924.

This run, the fourth of eight held at San Fermin, was by far the most perilous of this year's festival. The last three runs were comparatively placid affairs, with no serious injuries.

Spooked and aggressive
The bulls covering the half-mile course with six accompanying steers tend to mind their own business and keep running as long as they stay in a pack. A bull that gets separated is more likely to get spooked and aggressive and that is just what happened Friday.

A brown, 1,130-pound bull named Cappuccino fell early in the run and ended up on its own.

When it reached a stretch right outside the bullring that marks the end of the course, it started charging right and left, and even ran back the wrong way several times. Runners scurried for safety to wooden barriers along the route as the bull attacked. Herders waving sticks tried in vain to guide it into the ring, even yanking on the animal's tail to turn it around.

This went on for a minute and a half, which is a long time at San Fermin.

At one point the bull picked one man up with its horns and flipped him into the air, then kept going after him as he lay curled up on the ground, covering his face. But that man got up and ran away, and was apparently not seriously hurt.

It was not clear if Cappuccino was the same bull that gored the young man who died. The festival Web site said the victim was killed at an earlier stretch in the route.

The bulls used in Friday's run, from a ranch called Jandilla, have a reputation for being fierce at San Fermin. They hold the record for the most gorings in a single run — eight, one day in 2004.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31843227...ope/?GT1=43001

[JWS]

I read this too. How many will die before this silly custom is stopped?

[Musicman408]

Originally Posted by JWS

I read this too. How many will die before this silly custom is stopped?

Probably never!

[Villavic]

stupid tradition..

[jannieC]

I never feel sorry for people who are injured taking part in this activity.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by jannieC

I never feel sorry for people who are injured taking part in this activity.

Me either. I mean if you are dumb enough to court that danger, that's the breaks (as they say) .

I do, however, think the scene in general is horrible for the animal which really has no choice in the "sport." Having said that, it is their tradition and I don't live there. So, they likely could care a less about what I think

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Me either. I mean if you are dumb enough to court that danger, that's the breaks (as they say) .

I do, however, think the scene in general is horrible for the animal which really has no choice in the "sport." Having said that, it is their tradition and I don't live there. So, they likely could care a less about what I think

That's where I'm coming from too. And it *is* unfortunate that they don't care what we think, damnit!

[David]

If I were king:

You play tag with bulls, you get injured, YOU pay the full amount for your own doctor.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by David

If I were king:

You play tag with bulls, you get injured, YOU pay the full amount for your own doctor.

Exactly!

And, you should be king - or at least have a fiefdom

[David]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Exactly!

And, you should be king - or at least have a fiefdom

I'd make such a good king, strand! I wouldn't be overbearing or intrusive. I might be a little pompous, but that's a personality characteristic that affects many irrespective of their royal background.

I'd give you a post in my new government! What would you like?

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by David

. . . I'd give you a post in my new government! What would you like?

jester

[David]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

jester

Surely you jest. I was thinking more along the lines of Entertainment Coordinator or Policy Administrator.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by David

Surely you jest. I was thinking more along the lines of Entertainment Coordinator or Policy Administrator.

I can multi task and would love both of those as well. I think gldstwmn should be head of housing.

[becca]

I wonder at what point a tradition like this actually sticks? When does it go from jackass kids doing stupid things to something more respectable? In Japan people ride logs down a hill and sometimes get killed. In Mecca the stoning of pillars often results in pilgrims getting hit 'by accident'. I think the open ocean kayak is something the Native American has created to get rid of the white people who think it's traditional but never existed before outside of the high arctic.

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by David

Surely you jest. I was thinking more along the lines of Entertainment Coordinator or Policy Administrator.

Can I get in?