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Several injured when crowd crushed by bull during festival

Several young men were injured during a bull-running festival when one of the animals fell over and crushed them.

The event, known as the El Pilon de Falces, which translates as the Falces Bullrunning Festival, takes place every year in in the town of Falces in the northern Spanish region of Navarre.

The run consists of 800 metres along a narrow track involving steep slopes.

This year the bulls completed the run in just 58 seconds, but half way down one of the slopes, a bull fell into a group of young men, causing several to be crushed.

Several young men were injured during a bull-running festival when one of the animals fell over and crushed them. Source: CEN/Australscope
Several young men were injured during a bull-running festival when one of the animals fell over and crushed them. Source: CEN/Australscope

Despite the dramatic footage there were only light injuries to eight men, although three were treated in hospital, one for bruising, another with a hip injury, and a third with an injured shoulder blade.

They were named as Odei Llanas, aged 22, Ibai Iribarren, 20, and Adur Otxandorena, 22.

“The injuries could have been worse if they had been struck in the head,” paramedic Jose Manual Merenciano said.

The festival is one of many that take place in small towns and villages in Spain throughout the year, where young men in particular are expected to display their courage by running in front of, and alongside, bulls.

Jose Maria Cambri, head of the local Civil Protection unit, said that this year the festival had been particularly popular because it had coincided with the bull-running in the neighbouring town of Tafalla.

A bull fell into a group of young men, causing several to be crushed, during a bull-running event in Spain. Source: CEN/Australscope
A bull fell into a group of young men, causing several to be crushed, during a bull-running event in Spain. Source: CEN/Australscope

He stated: “This year we had over 2500 attendees, so on Wednesday we increased the number of Civil Protection officers to 12.”

He also commented that for the first time they had used a drone to film the event “to see if with the footage that we obtain we can get more information to increase security.”

Injuries, and even deaths are not uncommon at bull-running festivals in Spain.

In recent years, 2015 was particularly bad with 12 deaths.

In July a man was killed after being gored through the neck in Valfermoso de Tajuna in Guadalajara province, central Spain.