A young spectator was gored to death by a bull and about 80 people were injured during a bull-taming event in southern India.
Balamurugan, 19, was killed after a bull stuck its horns in his chest during the Jallikattu competition in Avaniapuram on Friday.
“The incident took place where the bulls were collected after the game,” Thangadurai, Deputy Commissioner of Police in Madurai, told The National.
“The bull attacked the man as he stood near the collection gate when the owner was trying to load it on the vehicle. He was given first aid and died en route to the hospital.”
The three-day contest is held each year to mark the start of Pongal, the harvest festival.
Bulls are released into a crowd of people, and tamers and spectators try to grab the animal’s hump and ride it to the finishing point.
Balamurugan was hit near an area designated for rounding up the animals, when a bull unexpectedly charged out of a nearby arena.
He was seriously injured and given first aid by medical teams and taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
“At least 70 people were injured, mainly bull-tamers, but these were not grave injuries,” Thangadurai said.
“It usually happens.”
Police said later that at least 80 people, including bull-tamers, bull owners and spectators, were injured.
Running with bulls
As many as 652 bulls and 294 bull-tamers took part in seven rounds of the sport, which was allowed by a top state minister, the police said.
Hundreds of villagers gathered on rooftops near the arena to watch the competition.
A local man named Karthik won the competition after he tamed 24 bulls, claiming a trophy and a car. Last year, he tamed 16 bulls.
An animal that could not be subdued was judged to be the “best bull”. Its owner received a motorcycle as a prize.
For years, the sport has been criticised by animal rights activists. They say the bulls are tortured and are made to drink alcohol to turn them more ferocious.
In 2014, the Supreme Court banned the sport and penalised the practice. But it continued for two years before state and federal governments buckled under public pressure and brought in a law to legalise the game.
Last week, the government of Tamil Nadu state extended Covid-19 restrictions but granted permission for the competition to go ahead with 150 spectators or 50 per cent sitting capacity.
Spectators had to prove they had tested negative for Covid-19 and had been immunised against it.
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German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Four stars
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Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
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THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
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U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
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Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5