A man has been gored to death at the traditional running of the bulls in the Spanish town of Pamplona. The man was gored is the neck and lung after one of the bulls veered into a group of runners and spectators. Emergency surgery failed to save him. At least another three others were seriously injured and six received light injuries.

The death was the first fatality since 1995 in the event popularised by author Ernest Hemingway in his novel The Sun Also Rises. Each year in the San Fermin Festival, hundreds of runners - Spanish and tourists - participate in the week-long early morning bull run through the streets in front of six bulls rushing to the ring. Young men particularly are keen to run in what had been termed a defining event in Spanish culture.

photo by Eneko Alonso (flickr)