Several injured as Pamplona bull run returns for first time in three years

Pamplona has held its first bull run in three years. No one was gored, but several runners were injured as tens of thousands of partygoers revelled in the return of one of Europe’s most famous traditional events.

The six bulls, guided by six tame oxen, charged through Pamplona’s streets in around two minutes and 35 seconds without causing too much carnage among the thousands of people cramming the course.

Despite this, several runners were stomped, trampled or shoved to the cobblestone pavement. At least two men were hit in the head.

The Pamplona hospital said that six people needed to be brought in for treatment, including a 30-year-old American man who fractured the radius and ulna of his left arm and one 16-year-old Spanish boy who lost a part of a finger in the bull ring, where a pile-up of runners occurred just at its entry point.

The other four injured were Spanish men between 19 and 45.

Eight people were gored during the last festival in 2019 before the pandemic.

Sixteen people have died in the bull runs since 1910. The last death occurred in 2009.

The bulls that run each morning are killed in bullfights in the afternoon by professional bullfighters.

This was the first of eight early morning bull runs that are followed by massive drinking, eating and cultural events held during the rest of the day. The festivities draw tens of thousands of visitors from around the world but were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Spain’s strong vaccination programme has allowed life to return to more or less normal, but a recent uptick in cases has led Pamplona authorities to recommend using face masks when necessary.

That said, masks were a rare sight in the throngs of people packing the city’s square for the official start of the party on Wednesday or during the first bull run.