Madrid, 7 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Six people were hurt on the first day of this year's bull running race in Pamplona, Spain, medics said on Sunday.

One person suffered head trauma, the other five mainly bruises, a spokesman for the local health service told public broadcaster RTVE.

Several of the injured were hospitalized.

Each day between until July 14, hundreds of people will chase six massive bulls, some weighing over 600 kilograms, and several oxen through Pamplona's narrow alleyways into an arena.

The bulls are corralled into to Pamplona's bullring where they are then killed by matadors during bullfights.

Dozens of runners, most of them young men, are injured every year as the race along the 875-metre-long course. There have been 16 fatalities since 1924, the last in 2009.

Animal rights activists call the bull runs "medieval cruelty."

Despite this, the festival continues to attract thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Photo: EPA