Trampled by the bulls: Pamplona festival runners are crushed beneath beasts’ hooves and thrown into the air as the first bull run of the season gets underway
- Six bulls guided by six tame oxen charged along route through the city’s streets before reaching the bull ring
- The day of carnage saw bulls jumping into crowds and thousands dressed in white running for their lives
Thousands of thrill seekers took part today in the first running of the bulls at the San Fermín festival in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona.
Festival runners were thrown into the air and trampled on the city’s cobbled streets as they ran for their lives, with bulls jumping into crowds of spectators in a day of full-blown carnage.
In the run, six bulls guided by six tame oxen charged along a route through Pamplona’s streets for around two minutes and 30 seconds before reaching the bull ring.
Expert bull runners, mostly locals, try to sprint at full steam just in the front of the bull horns before peeling off at the last second. The inexperienced, a group that includes most foreigners, do well enough to scramble out of the way, often ending up in piles of fellow runners.
Six people were injured early on Friday, none of them seriously, in the first bull running race of the festival, medics said.
Although several runners took knocks and hard falls in the 8am event, luckily no one was gored by the beasts, a frequent feature of the spectacle.
Almost everyone in Pamplona wears the traditional white shirt and pants with red sash and neckerchief during the colourful festival.
Friday’s run was the first of eight scheduled. The rest of day usually includes massive sessions of drinking, eating and attending cultural events.
Four runners were gored in the festival last year. Sixteen people have died in bull runs since 1910, most recently in 2009.
The bulls that run each morning are killed in the afternoon by professional bullfighters.
The festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists, was made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Hemingway’s first visit to the festival.
A man is thrown into the air in the bull run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2023
A festival is thrown against the sand in the bull run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2023
Mozos or runners are chased by bulls of La Palmosilla ranch at the bullring at the end of the first bull run of Sanfermines 2023 in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2023
Participants dressed in white run for their lives as they are chased by bulls of La Palmosilla ranch at the bullring at the end of the first bull run of Sanfermines 2023 in Pamplona on July 7, 2023
A participant is butted into the air by one of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2023
A young calf tries to jump the fence at the bullring as spectators try to scramble to safety after the first bull run of Sanfermines 2023 in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2023
A black bull comes dangerously close to festival runners during the first ‘encierro’ (bull-run) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on July 7
Festival runners are trampled on the cobbled streets at during the first bull-run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7,
A participant is thrown into the air inside the bull ring during the first bull-run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2023
A young calf tries to jump the fence at the bullring after the first bull run of Sanfermines 2023 in Pamplona, northern Spain, 07 July 2023.
Crowds run through the city streets trying to escape a herd of rampant beasts during the first bull run of Sanfermines 2023 in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2023
People watch crowds running through the street from their balconies as the first bull-run of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona gets underway
People run beside the bulls with some falling and getting trampled on in the first running of the bulls at the San Fermín festival
Two bulls charge towards the terrified crowds on a day of full-blown carnage at the San Fermín festival on July 7, 2023
The bull’s horns connect with one of the runners on the cobbled street at the first running of the bulls for the San Fermín festival this year in Pamplona
A resident watches from the balcony crowds dressed in white scramble as the first bull run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona gets underway on July 7, 2023
The bulls charge past as residents watch from shops and homes during the ‘encierro’ (bull-run) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2023
A participant appears to be praying for safety on the first day of the running of the bulls during the San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona, on July 7, 2023
Participants celebrate during the ‘Chupinazo’ (start rocket) opening ceremony to mark the kick-off of the San Fermin bull Festival outside the Town Hall of Pamplona, on July 6, 2023
Participants try to run out of the way of one of the bulls during the first bull run of Sanfermines 2023 in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2023
Spectators watch from their balconies as festival runners dressed in white make their way through the cobbled streets of Pamplona
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