A 25-year-old woman has died after being struck by a bull and slammed into a metal staircase during a traditional street festival in Spain.
Leire San Pedro suffered catastrophic injuries on Sunday, Sept. 27, during the Toro con Soga celebration in Lodosa, a town in Spain’s northern Navarre region.
San Pedro, who was from Bilbao and had close ties to the nearby town of Laguardia, was watching the event when the bull suddenly entered a narrow passage between a wooden barrier and a set of temporary grandstands.
The animal, a bull named Liberulo, charged through the confined area where several spectators were standing.
San Pedro reportedly tried to take shelter beneath one of the staircases as the bull came toward the crowd.
She was unable to escape.
The bull struck the young woman and drove her into the metal staircase before she fell to the ground, according to local reports.
San Pedro suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.
Emergency crews treated her at the scene before rushing her to the University Hospital of Navarra, where she was admitted to the intensive care unit.
Doctors later determined that she was brain dead.
After spending five days in the hospital, San Pedro died on Friday, Oct. 2.
Another woman was also injured during the same incident. Local authorities initially said she suffered an injury to her foot and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The deadly accident occurred during Lodosa’s well-known Toro con Soga, or “Bull With a Rope,” tradition.
During the event, a bull runs through town streets while a long rope attached to the animal allows handlers to help control its movements.
The celebration has been designated a Festival of Tourist Interest in Navarre and draws large crowds of spectators and bullfighting enthusiasts.
San Pedro was herself deeply involved in the tradition.
She was a member of Peña Lodosa por el Toro, a local bullfighting association, and was also connected with the Bullfighting Club of Laguardia.
Those who knew her remembered her as an enthusiastic young woman who brought energy and happiness to the people around her.
Following her death, the Lodosa City Council said the community was experiencing a deeply painful moment and offered condolences to San Pedro’s family and loved ones.
Officials declared two days of mourning, with flags lowered to half-staff in her memory.
The town also held a public tribute Sunday, Oct. 4.
Around 1,000 people gathered near Lodosa’s bull monument, where friends, members of local bull associations and residents observed a moment of remembrance.
Black ribbons and flowers were placed around the monument as the community honored San Pedro.
Her death carries particular significance in the long history of the festival.
Local reporting indicates that San Pedro is only the second person known to have died as a direct result of the Toro con Soga celebration.
The first recorded fatality connected specifically to the event occurred in 1968.
The September accident was also not the only serious incident during this year’s festivities.
One week earlier, a 62-year-old man was gored in the chest during another Toro con Soga event in Lodosa and suffered a head injury that caused him to lose consciousness. A second man was hospitalized with an abdominal injury.
The Toro con Soga celebrations had been scheduled to continue on weekends through Oct. 12 as part of festivities honoring the Virgin of Sorrows.
Vaya con Dios Chica!
Can you ghastly cruel people in Spain STOP torturing animals in the name of cultural fun?? There is absolutely NO REDEEMING VALUE in doing such things! My condolences to her family but KNOCK IT OFF, ALREADY!