Spain’s bull-running festival sees animal plough into crowd crushing 11
The event, called El Pilon de Falces by Spaniards, is held every year in the town of Falces in the northern Spanish region of Navarre.
The dangerous run covers 800m along a narrow dirt track that features steep slopes and which was completed by the majestic animals in a total time of just 58 seconds.
However, a long bull got into some difficulty and tripped, flying into a crowd of participants that were all young men.
The bull crushed several of them in a shocking incident caught on camera. In the footage, a large group of men can be seen down a steep hill away from a bull seen hurtling towards them.
As the bull crashed into them, some of the men are too slow to move and the beast ploughs right into them, sending some of the men flying.
The bull then wriggles back up and in a flash is back in the race, which continues regardless.
Despite the footage being dramatic, the eight men involved only suffered light injuries. Though three were treated in hospital.
One man suffered a shoulder injury, another had an injured hip and a final man experienced bruising from the crash.
These men were named as 22-year-old Odei Llanas, Ibai Iribarren, 20, and Adur Otxandorena, 22.
Paramedic Jose Manual Merenciano said: “The injuries could have been worse if they had been struck in the head.”
The festival is one of many that take place in small towns and villages in Spain throughout the year where young men in particular are expected to display their courage by running with bulls. This year’s event had proven popular with the locals because it coincided with another bull-running festival in the neighbouring town of Tafalla.
Jose Maria Cambri, head of the local Civil Protection unit, said: “This year we had over 2,500 attendees so on Wednesday we increased the number of Civil Protection officers to 12.”
Mr Cambri also said it was the first time his team had used a drone to film the event.
Serious injuries and even deaths have happened at Spanish bull-running festivals.
In 2015, 12 deaths took place during the nation’s bull-running events.