Running of the Bulls Starts in Pamplona, Spain; One Person Gored, A Number of Others Injured

Well it didn't take long for things to turn ugly in Pamplona, Spain. This years' running of the bulls already has its first casualty -- and it happened on the festival's first day.

One person was gored by a bull as thousands poured through the streets of the northern Spanish town as they attempted to avoid that very same fate. 

According to ABC News, a spokesperson for Spain's Red Cross confirmed that four people were being treated at a local hospital for wounds "sustained in the 8 a.m. run, the first of the annual San Fermin festival."

One of the four being treated had been gored in the thigh. The local government also released a statement concerning those involved which confirmed the four were all Spaniards and that none of them are in serious condition. 

Typically those participating in the annual event are required to run (or walk if they are feeling brave) through an 850-meter course, which begins at the bulls' holding pen and culminates in the city's bull-fighting arena. And injuries are nothing new during this event.

"Dozens of people are injured each year" reports ABC, and most of those injuries occur during falls as people attempt to scramble past each other while avoiding the wrath of the charging bulls. 

Since the festival began keeping official injury records in 1924, there have been fifteen recorded fatalities from gorings.

The festival is a tourist attaction and has become known the world over thanks in part to its reputation as a bloody event, both for the participants and the bulls as well.

After the "running" portion of the festival, the bulls are then killed by matadors in the city arena and their meat is then passed on to the city's restaurants, where it is served to patrons.