Trampled by the bulls: Pamplona festival runners are gored and tossed around by rampaging beasts as they risk their lives in annual Spanish festival

Thousands of thrill seekers took on the Pamplona bull run over the weekend, as they looked to prove that they could outrun - or at least avoid - rampaging fighting bulls.

While thousands avoided the animals' horns, at least six people were injured yesterday, with one participant gored and five suffering bruising, local government sources in the Spanish city said.

Dramatic pictures show participants stumbling and covering their heads as they are trampled in the dangerous race - which takes place over 850 metres through the city centre's narrow streets.

Some of the revellers goaded the animals, leaving commentators saying it had been a miracle no-one had been attacked and badly hurt or even killed.

Sixteen people have been killed at the annual festival since records began in 1910, most recently in 2009, while many more are injured as they try to outrun the wild beasts.

The festivities, which include the bull runs as well as concerts, religious processions and copious amounts of wine, were made famous by 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel 'The Sun Also Rises'.

Revellers brace themselves as a wild cow jumps over them, at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain, July 8, 2024

A 'recortador' (bull trimmer) jumps over a bull in the Plaza de Toros bullring during a show after the first day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2024

A recortador is run over by a raging bull in the Plaza de Toros bullring during a show after the first day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona

A bull rams into a recortador who fell to the ground during the ritual performance

Participants covered their heads as the bull leapt over them as it was driven into the arena

Participants run ahead of 'Cebada Gago' bulls during the 'encierro' (bull-run) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 8, 2024

A participant is hit by a young cow during a show after the second 'encierro' (bull-run) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona

A reveller jumps over a wild cow, at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona

Participants run ahead of 'Cebada Gago' bulls during the 'encierro' (bull-run) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona

Participants run ahead of 'Cebada Gago' bulls during the 'encierro' (bull-run) of the San Fermin festival

On Sunday, a man was gored and another five rushed to hospital with trauma injuries.

A 37-year-old man from Beriain near Pamplona where the annual festival takes place every July suffered the only gore injury, said to have been to his palate.

The other five casualties included a 54-year-old man from New York. All six runners who needed hospital treatment were males.

The curtain went up on nine days of festivities on Saturday as thousands filled the city's main square for the 'chupinazo' - the firecracker which launches an event dating back to medieval times. 

Revellers dressed in the must-wear white outfits with a red bandana around their necks celebrated by soaking each other in wine and sangria.

Sunday morning's 8am bull run was the first of eight so-called encierros which is the highlight of the festival.

Two of the six fighting bulls, led by six steers, became detached from the rest of the group during the half-mile run through the streets of Pamplona's old town.

They remained in the bullring at the end of the course for more than a minute before ranchers guided them away from runners massing around them into pens.

The bulls that run each morning are killed in the afternoon by professional bullfighters.

Participants run ahead of 'Cebada Gago' bulls during the 'encierro' (bull-run) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 8, 2024

Participants in red and white clothes run ahead of 'Cebada Gago' bulls during the 'encierro' 

The animals run from their corral to the bullring through the narrow streets of the old town over an 850 metres

Between 200 and 300 people are usually injured in the run each year at the festival during the bull runs, often including foreigners from Britain, the US and Australia.

The most recent death was in 2009 when 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno, from Madrid, was gored in the neck by a bull called Capuchino.

Animal rights activists campaign against the festival every year, saying it is cruel to animals who are goaded and then killed in front of baying crowds.