Well, that ended badly. A bullfighter and a man participating in a village bull-run were killed in Spain on Saturday July 9, while another two men were gored by the animals at a festival in the town of Pamplona, Spain.
Victor Barrio, a 29-year-old professional bullfighter, was killed when a bull’s horn pierced his chest in front of spectators as he competed in a fight in the town of Teruel.
Shown live on television, his death was confirmed on the website of Madrid’s Las Ventas bullring, where Barrio began as an apprentice bullfighter in 2010. He is the first Spanish bullfighter to die in a ring since the turn of the century.
In the southeastern village of Pedreguer, a 28-year-old Spaniard was killed during a bull-run, in which people risk life and limb by racing alongside specially-bred fighting bulls through narrow streets. A bull’s horn pierced his lung and heart as he was trying to help another runner during the event.
Many of Spain’s towns hold summer festivals involving bulls resulting in several deaths each year. The San Fermin festival features bulls chasing red-scarf clad runners through Pamplona’s cobbled streets during nine days of events, attracting thousands of revelers from Spain and overseas.
In Saturday’s run, a 33-year-old Japanese man was gored in the chest and a 24-year-old Spanish man in the arm, while 12 others suffered minor injuries. The Japanese man was in a stable condition in hospital.
Over the past century, 15 people have died in Pamplona’s event, which dates back hundreds of years. The last death was recorded in 2009.
