Three injured in Spain bull festival

PAMPLONA (AFP) - Three men were injured Saturday during the last running of the bulls at the annual bull festival in the northern city of Pamplona, the Red Cross said.

One of the men was gored in the thigh, another in the abdomen and a third was being treated for head injuries.

The run, in which bulls are released every morning of the nine-day festival into the city's narrow streets, is a test of derring-do for many who run ahead. The animals later take part in bull fights the same evening.

Runners are sometimes caught and either gored or trampled by the bulls and 14 people have been killed in the event since 1911, immortalized by Ernest Hemingway in his 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises".

The most recent death was that of an American in 1995. More than 25 people were injured during this year's festival.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including many foreigners, flock to the event every year. Animal rights activists have led a long campaign to demand the scrapping of the festival.