Spanish matador gored to death in front of horrified spectators during live broadcast

Others rushed to the rescue, helping to distract the bull and lure him away while the matador lay bleeding in the sand.

A Spanish bullfighter has become the first to die in the ring in three decades, after being gored in front of horrified spectators during a corrida in the eastern town of Teruel.

Victor Barrio, 29, died Saturday evening of injuries to the chest after being struck by the horn of a bull weighing over 500 kilogrammes (1,100 pounds) and tossed into the air. His death was shown during live broadcast of the event.

Other matadors rushed to the rescue, helping to distract the bull and lure him away while Barrio lay bleeding in the sand.

Barrio, who made his corrida debut in 2008 and toured rings all over the country, was pronounced dead at the scene, Tauroemocion, the organiser of the bullfight, told AFP.

His death is the first of a matador in the ring since 1985, Spanish media reported.

In the southeastern village of Pedreguer near Valencia, a 28-year-old Spaniard was killed during a bull-run, in which people risk life and limb by racing alongside specially-bred fighting bulls through narrow streets.

A bull's horn pierced his lung and heart as he was trying to help another runner during the event, in which a man was killed last year, a spokesman for the regional government said.

Many of Spain's towns hold summer festivals involving bulls, and several people die each year.

The San Fermin festival, in which bulls chase red-scarved runners through Pamplona's cobbled streets during nine days of events, attracts thousands of revellers from Spain and overseas.

In Saturday's run there, a 33-year-old Japanese man was gored in the chest and a 24-year-old Spanish man in the arm, while 12 others suffered minor injuries, the local government said on its website.

The Japanese man was in a stable condition in hospital, a spokesman for the festival said.

The four-minute run in Pamplona featured six bulls from the Jose Escolar ranch, one of which separated from the rest and caused panic among the runners.

The daily bull-run along an 825-metre stretch of narrow streets in Pamplona's old town starts at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) and usually lasts between three and five minutes. There are eight runs in total during the festival.

Over the past century 15 people have died in Pamplona's event, which dates back hundreds of years, according to a count on the unofficial San Fermin website. The last death was recorded in 2009.