Lone bull gores two in last running

The fearsome and legendary Miura bulls spilled blood on the last run of Pamplona’s famous Sanfermines on Monday.

Two runners were gored in their right legs and five more sustained injuries after they were caught by several animals on their way from the corral to the bullring. The annual event, which kicks off on July 6 and ends on July 14, was made universally famous by Ernest Hemingway in his novel The Sun Also Rises.

The bulls from the Miura ranch are renowned for becoming dangerous when they find themselves separated from the herd. On Monday morning, one of them skidded and fell coming out of a curve between Mercaderes and Estafeta street, and rushed a group of runners who began falling down in their panicked bid to get away from the angry animal.

The bulls from the Miura ranch are renowned for becoming dangerous when are separated from the herd

The bull became fixated with a particular runner, whom he shoved around as the latter attempted to avoid the horns just centimeters from his flesh. When the young man managed to get up and run, the animal chased him down Mercaderes street and managed to leave him with a deep gash in his right leg before he was pulled to safety from the other side of the fencing.

But the bull had tasted blood. As it made its way down Estafeta street, it fixed its gaze on another runner who was holding on to an overhanging balcony, and began attacking him until the last steer showed up — these are released with the bulls to guide them on the way to the bullring — which encouraged the lone bull to be on its way again. By the time it reached the ring, it had been four minutes and 57 seconds. The first four bulls had reached the sand of the ring after two minutes.

Both victims, one from Australia and the other from the nearby town of Burlada (Navarre), were taken to hospital in serious condition although their lives are not at risk.