Gadling

As Abha already mentioned in one of her posts, the 9-day bull-running festival in Pamplona, Northern Spain, started today.

BBC reports that today's run only took 4 minutes and claimed thirteen injured people. Although the injuries were mostly cuts and bruises suffered by people falling over or getting trampled by one of the six bulls set loose, some more serious injuries were reported.

One man suffered a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen and broken ribs. Another, 23-year old man from Ireland, died after falling from the city's walls. (This actually happened yesterday and had nothing to do with being chased by the bulls though.)

Here is how the festival works. "Up to six bulls and a number of steers are released at 8 a.m. from a pen into a closed-off street. They then run 825m (2,700ft) to the bullring, where they face matadors later in the day. Ahead of them are the runners, who try to stay as close to the bulls as possible without falling or being gored," BBC reports.

Today, the sprint through the cobbled streets apparently turned chaotic after the pack bulls became separated after ploughing into a crowd of people. Ouch.

It is quite amazing that "only" 14 people have been killed during the festival since record-keeping began in 1924.

Filed under: Europe, Spain