Four people are injured at Pamplona festival as astonishing photos show contestants lying down for raging bulls to jump over them
- Dozens of runners formed pile of bodies at the end of the traditional run through the Spanish city’s streets
- It was at the point where the route reached a crowded arena that is later used for bullfighting
- They lay surrounded by a cheering mob who survived the dash over the medieval city’s cobblestones
Four people were injured on the third day of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, as dozens of runners formed pile of bodies for the raging animals to jump over.
Photos showed the human hurdle at the end of the traditional run through the Spanish city’s streets as the route reached a crowded arena that is later used for bullfighting.
They lay surrounded by a cheering mob of fellow runners who survived the dash over the medieval city’s cobblestones pursued by the one-tonne beasts.
Photos showed the human hurdle at the end of the traditional run through the Spanish city’s streets as the route reached a crowded arena that is later used for bullfighting
Some photos showed the animals’ hooves crashing into their backs as one plucky runner snapped a photo of the bull from up close as it whizzed by
Men sprawled on top of each other covering their heads with their hands but this was evidently not enough to prevent injury from bulls that failed to jump all the way over.
Some photos showed the animals’ hooves crashing into their backs as one plucky runner snapped a photo of the bull from up close as it whizzed by.
The four runners were sent to hospital after being knocked over or falling down during the annual San Fermin festival on Monday.
Tomas Belzunegui, a spokesman for Navarra’s provincial hospital, said two of the injured suffered head injuries while the others were severely bruised.
They lay surrounded by a cheering mob of fellow runners who survived the dash over the medieval city’s cobblestones pursued by the one-tonne beasts.
Men sprawled on top of each other covering their heads with their hands in the hope of shielding them from the bulls
However, this was evidently not enough to prevent injury from bulls that failed to jump all the way over
Monday’s run with famously fierce bulls from the Cebada Gago ranch left participants scrambling franticly to escape the beasts as they accompanied them to the city’s bullring.
The animals broke up in two separate groups in a race that lasted a mere two minutes and 33 seconds.
Falls or trampling by the bulls cause most injuries. Some runners are occasionally gored along the 930-yard (850m) route, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel ‘The Sun Also Rises.
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