19 injured in Mexican running of the bull
Monday, August 25, 2008 at 10:08 am
Nineteen people were injured, two of them seriously, in Saturday’s (August 23) running of the bulls in central Mexico, a less well-known cousin of Spain’s famous Pamplona festival.
Alejandro Aguilar (ah-gee-LAHR) was one of the event’s coordinators and he said the annual event proceeded well.
“It’s a traditional event that has taken place since the time of the Tlaxcalteca ancestors. One can say it’s from Spanish influence but it takes place here in Huamantla and it occurs perfectly well,” he said. “There are always the injured which there always has to be.”
Fewer people were injured this year than last year when 23 were injured and one man died. Officials credit increased security including 500 emergency personnel and 20 ambulances that were on hand.
Among the injured was an on-duty Red Cross paramedic who was gored in the head by a run away bull. Municipal police shot the bull to death.
The annual festival was held in the colonial town of Huamantla (wah-MAHN-tlah), 05 miles from Mexico City.
Thousands of people lined the streets of Huamantla as 24 bulls were let loose in five streets in a festival held since 1953 in Tlaxcala (teh-lawx-KAH-lah) state, the cradle of Mexican bull fighting. Spectator Sergio Alvarado said he especially enjoyed watching the large animals.
“The good thing, the pretty thing is when the bulls charge, when they play, when something can be done with the bulls,” he said.
The festival has yet to achieve the status of Spain’s San Fermin bull running, which was made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun also Rises,” a semi-autobiographical account of an alcohol-fueled visit to the event by a group of squabbling British and American friends in the 1920s.
(Agencies)
( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)
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