Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Six Gored in Annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona

Aired July 07, 2001 - 07:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PHILLIPS: The bulls are running, and we're not talking Chicago here, we're talking Pamplona, Spain, and quarter-ton bulls. The annual Running of the Bulls Festival is under way, although already the stampeding bulls have gored at least six people, including an American woman.

CNN's Al Goodman reports on this dangerous tradition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The corral gates opened precisely at 8:00 in the morning, and the fighting bulls charged into the cobblestone streets of Pamplona, a proving ground for runners testing their skill, testing their luck, along the 825-meter, or half-mile, course, running as if their very lives dependent on it, trying to stay oh-so-close yet just out of reach of the deadly horns of the bulls.

Each weighs more than half a ton. These bulls are from the same notorious ranch whose bulls caused the last death here six years ago of a young man. In all, officials have recorded 13 deaths since last century, and several hundred gorings.

The running started centuries ago. It's a week-long festival honoring Pamplona's patron saint, San Fermin (ph). This was the first of eight straight days of running of the bulls. The bulls will die in the afternoon bullfights.

Ernest Hemingway came here and wrote about it in his 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises." Since then, visitors from around the world have run. Authorities issue safety tips to runners, and medical teams are in place to quickly help the injured.

But in the running, there is no real safety, just a few minutes of carrying on a long tradition, or seeking a thrill.

Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com