Ever since Ernest Hemingway wrote about the San Fermin festival in his novel "The Sun Also Rises" people from around the globe have flocked to Pamplona, Spain in order to run with the bulls. During the sixth bull run of the festival on Friday an American and two Spaniards were gored in the bloodiest day of the festival so far, according to the New York Post.
In the five "encierros," the Spanish word for "bull run," prior to this there were no gorings. Today's breed of bulls, the El Pilar bulls, are usually thought to be of little danger as they tend to run fast and clean, according to SanFermin.com. The official website of the San Fermin festival described exactly what happened in the run that had the most gorings since July 9 2012.
"The bulls came out of the pens in Santo Domingo at a very fast pace and a brown-colored one quickly moved ahead, creating some moments of danger for the runners. Here, one runner received a goring. But the real protagonist was the black bull that got left behind by the others when it slipped up. This bull caused moments of terror in Estafeta as it charged at everyone around it. It tossed one runner to the ground and then spent some 30 seconds lifting and tossing the runner on its horns. All along the remaining part of the course, this bull continued to create terror as it charged and tossed various runners along the way."
A total of six people were injured in Friday's run. In addition to the three who were gored one American and two Spaniards were also taken to the hospital for injuries they suffered in falls and from being trampled by other runners, none of the injuries are considered to be serious, according to the New York Post.
The current route being used for each morning's encierro has stayed the same since 1899. A total of 14 runners have been killed in the history of the festival. Twice there have been bulls that have killed two people, in 1947 and 1980. The number of injuries and fatalities has gone up at just about the same rate as attendance at the festival, according to SanFermin.com.