Bull Goring Victim Suffered 'Catastrophic Bleeding' Before Death

A man died during a bullfighting festival after suffering “catastrophic bleeding” after being gored by one of the animals.

71-Year-Old Dies After Being Gored by Bull

Officials in Ciudad Rodrigo, which is located near Salamanca in northwestern Spain, identified the victim to La Gaceta as Eustaquio Martín, 71. Martin reportedly died following an incident on Friday, Feb. 13, the first night of Spain’s Carnaval del Toro (Carnival of the Bull) Festival. Martin was taking part in a late-night event held in a bullring when a bull charged him and pierced the upper portion of his ribcage in an “uncontrollable and catastrophic” accident.

"He entered the infirmary in agony and died less than a minute later," officials confirmed. "The wound, in the center of his chest, left his heart partially destroyed and half a lung damaged.”

Festival and Government Officials Responded to the Tragic Incident

Carnaval del Toro responded to the casualty in a statement issued on Saturday, Feb. 14. "It's one of the things we would have NEVER liked to see or live,” the festival wrote. "We are shocked.” However, organizers admitted that this is not the first time a bull has fatally injured a festivalgoer. In 1986, Miguel Ángel Garzónwas killed in a similar incident when a bull gored them in the ring. This is the first fatality at the festival in 40 years. In 2015, American college student Ben Milley, then 20, sustained life-threatening injuries when he was gored by a bull at the Carnaval del Toro. 

"Remembering that date in '86 started to result from another era, another way to understand our Carnival. We saw so many [participants] always saved by the formidable medical teams we have. It seemed like this would never happen again," the statement continued. "This is why the shock is hard to digest. A big hug to the family.”

Ciudad Rodrigo Mayor Marcos Iglesias Caridad also addressed the tragedy in a separate statement on Saturday. "As you know from the media, sadly, a countryman of ours, very dear, has died in the night," Caridad said. "We send a hug to his family and friends and are with them in their grief.”