Injuries Continue as San Fermin Festival Nears End

P A M P L O N A, Spain, July 13 -- Three people were gored in the thigh and five others were kicked or trampled in a dangerous bull run today, the seventh day of Pamplona’s San Fermín Festival.

The six-minute run — the longest yet of the current festival — was marked by unpredictable twists and turns of the six muscular bulls that ran accompanied by six steers.

All three caught by the bulls’ horns, including 59-year-old Californian Arthur Duff, were sent to the hospital with gashes in their thighs, according to the state news agency, Efe.

Duff, who lives in Rome, Italy, was undergoing surgery early this afternoon, said hospital workers. His home city in California wasn’t immediately known.

Five other runners were hospitalized after they were trampled by the running bulls.

No Escape

Three people were injured almost simultaneously when one of the bulls halfway through the run turned sharply to the left and charged into the crowd of young men running beside it.

The density of the crowd prevented many from fleeing as the bull gored one and knocked into others.

The same bull continued in an angry trot throughout the rest of the 825-yard circuit, frequently charging the hundreds of runners who ran alongside it.

In an ideal run, according to organizers, the bulls run in a straight, swift pack throughout the circuit from the holding pen to the bullfighting arena.

The bulls face almost certain death as they fight matadors later in the day.

About 1.6 million people are expected to visit Pamplona during the eight days of the San Fermín Fiesta, which began last Friday.

The runs, or encierros as they are known in Spanish, draw thousands of people who want to test their guts and speed.

The centuries-old festival, which features a nonstop street party, became internationally famous following the 1926 publication of Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises.