PAMPLONA (Spain) • Half-tonne fighting bulls crashed into and trampled thrill-seeking runners as they raced down the streets of Pamplona in northern Spain yesterday, injuring five men, officials said.

No one was gored but five Spanish men between the ages of 27 and 58 were taken to hospital for injuries to the head, knees or elbows, the regional government of Navarra said in a statement. None of the injuries was serious.

A 27-year-old man from Australia was gored in the groin and thigh in the bull run on Wednesday. Two Americans and a Briton were gored in the first run on Tuesday.

Fifteen people have been killed in the bull runs since 1911. The most recent fatality was in 2009, when a bull gored a 27-year-old Spaniard.

Last year, just over 17,000 people joined the festival's eight daily bull runs with more than half of them coming from abroad, according to Pamplona's city hall.

Reuters