Bull kills woman watching festival race in France

Spectator tossed several metres into air before landing on her head

As the bulls left the area after the race, one leapt over the fence which separated them from the public

A woman has been killed by a bull who struck her during a local festival in the southern French city of Aigues-Mortes.

The woman, who is from Cannes, was watching a bull race with her husband on Saturday.

As the bulls left the area after the race, one leapt over the fence which separated them from the public.

The bull managed to catch the woman in its horns – tossing her several metres into the air before she landed on her head.

The woman was evacuated by helicopter but she later died in hospital.

According to some reports, the couple had been advised by fellow spectators not to stand directly behind the fence as the bulls departed the track.

It comes after one person was gored and four others were injured on the first day of a traditional bull-running festival in Pamplona in July.

According to the Red Cross, a bull’s horn injured the individual during the two-and-a-half-minute sprint through the winding streets of the city in the north of Spain.

The four others who were hurt suffered from grazes and other minor injuries. All five were taken to hospital.

Around 2,000 people generally attend the event which sees people run with six bulls and six bullocks along a 875m route.

This year the sprint was faster than average and rain from the previous night had meant the ground was left wet.

An average of around seven people are hurt each year on the Saturday during the bull-run which is statistically the most dangerous day of the nine-day San Fermín festival.

At least 16 people have died during the festival since 1910, with the most recent fatality taking place in 2009, but minor injuries are far more common because of falls.