Spanish authorities say 13 people have been injured during the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
Hundreds
of thrill-seekers were chased Monday by six half-ton beasts through 850
meters of the town's cobblestone streets, the highlight of the
centuries-old San Fermin festival.
It was not immediately clear
how the injuries were sustained. But accounts from the scene say no
one was gored and that several of the bulls became separated and
disoriented during the four-minute run.
Police Monday identified
an Irish national who died Sunday, after falling from the 30-meter-high
wall that encircles the ancient center of Pamplona. Authorities say
the victim, Aidan Holly was under the influence of alcohol when he
fell.
Monday's run is the first of eight scheduled during the
week-long festival, which was immortalized in Western literature by
Ernest Hemingway in his 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises."
Several
of the bulls fell during Monday's run. The beasts face matadors each
afternoon of the festival, in fights that in recent years have come
under criticism from animal rights activists.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.