Pamplona: Five injured in the opening race of the bull hunt

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Five people were injured in the opening race of this year's bull hunt

Photo: Vincent West / REUTERS

At least five runners were injured in the first bull hunt of this year's "Sanfermines" festival in Pamplona in northern Spain.

However, there were no injuries from horn blasts, the organizers of the equally famous and controversial event announced on Thursday.

The five injured young men were taken to the hospital with bruises and bruises, it said.

For example, a 25-year-old suffered a bruised skull in a fall.

The folk festival had already been opened on Wednesday with the traditional starting signal from the "Chupinazo" rocket.

Thousands of people from all over the world celebrated the starting shot with plenty of alcohol.

Protest by animal welfare groups

The festival in honor of the city saint San Fermín will take place again for the first time since 2019.

It was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona pandemic.

There will be a total of eight running of the bulls through next Thursday.

Every day in the early morning, six fighting bulls, some of which weigh more than 600 kilograms, and several tame lead oxen are hunted through the narrow streets of the old town for the bullfights in the evening into the arena.

For the bloody fights in the arena, injuries are inflicted on the animals to put them in an attacking mood.

Every year dozens of people are injured in the hunts.

The participants mainly injure themselves through falls or because the cops trample on them.

The last fatality was in 2009, when a bull impaled a man in the neck, heart and lungs.

There have been a total of 16 fatalities since 1924.

This year, animal welfare groups protested against the traditional event, which has been taking place since 1591 but has since become controversial in Spain.

Despite all the criticism, the festival attracts countless tourists from all over the world, especially from Europe, the USA and Australia.

lmd/dpa