PAMPLONA, Spain — A US college student and two Spaniards were gored Friday during a danger-filled sixth bull run of Spain’s San Fermin festival, with one loose bull causing panic in the packed streets of Pamplona.
Tension soared when one of the animals charged a 31-year-old Spaniard, Diego Miralles, and tossed him on the ground with its horns for almost 30 seconds as fellow runners tried to pull it away by its tail.
Helpers eventually dragged the victim to safety by his feet....
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"Many are injured in running of bulls
PAMPLONA— The penultimate bull run of Spain’s San Fermin festival left at least 23 people injured Saturday, when thrill-seekers fleeing the beasts were crushed at the narrow entrance to the bullring, officials said. An American from Ohio was one of two runners gored. As the huge animals thundered into the entrance of the tunnel, they were blocked by a mound of dozens of people who had fallen (AP)."
Also see: Sunday Globe Special: Running of the Bull
Bulls are just getting even.
"Bullfighting: Spain’s perverse pursuit" May 27, 2013
Spain’s bullfighting industry has been battered in recent years, a victim of declining popularity and economic recession....
For nearly three centuries Spanish bullfighting has attracted passionate fans. But to modern eyes, there is no romance or honor in bullfights, which are not really “fights” at all, but essentially the drawn-out torture and slaughter of an animal for the enjoyment of a crowd. Like bear-baiting and cockfighting, bullfights appeal to those who find entertainment in brutalizing animals and forcing them to a painful, bloody, violent death. No less a devotee than Ernest Hemingway, who celebrated bullfighting in his 1932 book “Death in the Afternoon,” was honest enough to acknowledge that “true enjoyment of killing” was the key to its fascination and allure....
Rather than prolong this ritual, diehards should acknowledge reality: Bullfighting is inhumane, and its time has come and gone. Spain’s contributions to Western culture have been many and glorious. The grotesque spectacle of tormenting bulls to death for fun is not one of them.
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"3 die in Halloween stampede in Spain" Associated Press, November 02, 2012
MADRID — A stampede in an arena where thousands of people were attending a Halloween dance party killed three women and critically injured two others early Thursday, officials said.
It happened just after 4 a.m. in a passageway within the venue leading to the central concert area at Madrid Arena, where the disco-style party with American DJ Steve Aoki was under way.
Someone set off a flare or a firework, causing the stampede that trampled the five young women, Deputy Mayor Miguel Angel Villanueva said.
One witness said the stampede left partygoers piled atop one another as high as her shoulders.
‘‘I saw a mass of people screaming ‘Help, get me out of here,’ with security guards tugging at them,’’ Ana Gomez told state broadcaster TVE.
‘‘I remember seeing the face of one young man, and his expression was that of sheer terror.’’
Thousands of people were attending the party when the stampede occurred, leaving the victims with trauma injuries or lung and heart failure, emergency services spokesman Fernando Prado said.
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Bulls had nothing to do with that, although they did leave this behind:
"Eight face charges in Syria terror case
MADRID — Eight suspected jihadist militants who formed part of a terrorist recruitment network that sent 50 militants to conduct attacks for Al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria have been arrested, said Spain’s interior minister. Jorge Fernandez Diaz said the arrests Friday in Ceuta had disbanded and ‘‘neutralized’’ the network. Fernandez Diaz said those who went to Syria had fought the regime of President Bashar Assad (AP)."
Also see:
That sure does stink, yeah.
