Pile-up at bullring injures 63 during running of bulls

A PAMPLONA-STYLE running of the bulls in a town near Madrid yesterday left 63 people injured, two of them seriously.

The pair were taken from the town of San Sebastian de los Reyes, about 10 miles north of Madrid, to hospitals in the capital to undergo urgent surgery, said Angel Pesquera, spokesman for the town’s emergency unit. The others were treated for cuts and bruises, he said.

During the crowded run, people were momentarily trapped in a pile-up at the bullring’s entrance where the run ends. Some of the bulls then trampled over the mound of people to get into the ring, causing the large number of injuries. The town holds a weeklong festival each summer in which daredevils run through the streets with bulls weighing as much as 1,300lb, much like the famed San Fermin festival in the northern city of Pamplona in July.