Nine injured in traditional Spanish bull run

Comments | AFP, July, 2008

PAMPLONA, Spain (AFP) — Nine people were injured Monday, including four foreigners, in the first day of the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona in northeastern Spain, organisers said.

The injuries were mostly bruises, cuts and possible broken bones from falls during the run, a spokeswoman for the festival told AFP. The injured were taken to two local hospitals, she said.

Among the injured was a 20-year-old US national from California and a 23-year-old South African who both suffered head injuries; a 21-year-old Briton and a 23-year-old from New Zealand.

On each day of the festival six bulls are released at 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) to run from their corral through the narrow, cobbled streets of the old town over an 850-metre (yard) course....