Adventurers risk their lives at the bull festival in Spain

Despite its history and its attraction to thousands of followers, the San Fermin Bullfighting Festival in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona remains precarious because of the high risk of injury or even death during jogging in front of bulls.

On Friday, at least four people were admitted to hospital for injuries sustained on the sixth day of the festival, while seven others suffered similar injuries on Thursday, including one wounded in the chest by a bull.

From the 7th to the 14th of the same month, thousands of people line up on the streets of the medieval city of San Fermin to run with bulls in a tradition that has been going on for centuries.

Six attacking bulls, six feet taller and more comfortable, walk about 875 meters across the city's narrow streets after starting from their hangar to the wrestling ring, while runners try to avoid bullfights or fall under their hooves.

Each year, thousands of runners - most of them wearing white clothes from head to toe and putting red handkerchiefs around the neck - meet for the traditional morning enemy with bulls.

The contestants often suffer injuries during the festival, but there have been no deaths since a Spanish bull hit Daniel Gimino in the neck in 2009.

Nearly one million people participate in the festival every year, giving a major boost to the local economy, but it raises controversy about the treatment of animals.