Another day without gorings in Pamplona, 5 hurt

PAMPLONA, Spain — Five people were injured Thursday but none gored during the second-to-last day of the running of the bulls in Pamplona.

Navarra Hospital said all five were hurt — in the back, arm, face or leg — in falls or when they were stepped on during a very fast run with bulls from a Seville ranch known for particularly swift dashes at Spain's most popular summer festival.

One light brown bull running at the edge of the pack knocked people down as if they were rag dolls.

Half-way through the run, one man fell to the cobblestone streets of the city's old quarter and got up to find several hulking bulls, along with the bell-tinkling steers that run with them, right on top of him. He managed to scurry away to safety.

The pack spread out fairly early in the two-and-half minute run, which is not good: bulls running on their own can get disoriented, thus are more likely to charge at people. Still, no one got gored.

The San Fermin festival, known for its virtually non-stop drinking and revelry, became world famous with Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Sun Also Rises."

The last of eight runs is Saturday. Afterward, revelers bemoan the end of the party by singing a song called "Pobre de Mi," which can be translated as "woe is me."

Woolls reported from Madrd.