Nine other people were injured in falls, organisers said. They include a 61-year-old American man who was in serious condition with head injuries in hospital, said a spokeswoman.

A 63-year-old American man suffered a fractured elbow in a fall while trying to avoid the bulls, the spokeswoman added.

An Australian, an American, a Scottish man and a Swiss national were injured in other runs this week.

The festival, in which about a dozen bulls are released each morning to run from their corral over an 825-metre (900-yard) course to the bullring, causes injuries every year as tourists, dressed in white with a red neckerchief, sprint in front of the animals.

In the afternoon, the same bulls face matadors in the bullring. On Thursday night, a torero known as El Cid was hit twice by a bull's horn, once in the left leg and once in the scrotum.

A man is gored by a bull on Friday in Pamplona,
during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival.

Pamplona authorities have stepped up precautions in recent years to stop people who have drunk too much alcohol taking part.

The festival is a symbol of Spanish culture, despite the controversy it now causes. It was made famous by Hemingway's 1926 novel, The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway went to the bull runs for several years in the 1920s as a reporter.

The festival is held each year from 6 - 14 July.

13 July 2009

AFP / Expatica