Image capture of video by ABC news - A top Spanish matador was gored to death in a bullfight being shown live on TV
- Victor Barrio, a Segovian matador, is the first to die in a bullfight in more than thirty years
- The last matador to die in a corrida in Spain was Jose Cubero in 1985
An award-winning Spanish matador was gored to death by a bull during a “corrida” or bullfight that was being broadcast live on television in Teruel, Aragon in Eastern Spain on Saturday, July 9.
Professional bullfighter Victor Barrio is the first matador to be killed by a bull during a corrida in more than three decades. The last matador to die in a bullfight in Spain was Jose Cubero in 1985.
According to Telegraph’s David Millward, the 29-year-old Barrio was executing a maneuver known as “muletazo” when the bull named Lorenzo, who was already struggling then, caught the matador on the side; sending him tumbling down to the ground.
The bull caught Barrio off guard after a gust of wind affected his waving of the crutch, the small cape attached to a stick used by the matador during the final stages of a bullfight.
The spectators, including Barrio’s wife, Raquel Sanz, were shocked as the 529-kilo bull rammed a horn through the top bullfighter’s chest. The grisly goring was shown live on TV, and viewers have uploaded footage of the scene on social media.
Other toreros came to the rescue and lured Lorenzo away from Barrio who lay bleeding in the sand. The unconscious matador was rushed to a hospital but doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. He died due to the perforation of the lung and thoracic aorta.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy paid his condolences to Barrio through his Twitter account.
Tributes to the fallen bullfighter poured in from all over Spain, but there are others who were critical of the sport.
“Victor Barrio was a bullfighter. As far as I’m concerned, he got what was coming. It’s one of the cruelest, most awful so called sports,” tweeted someone who uses the handle “savannafairnie.”
A certain Lydia offered no sympathy to Victor Barrio and called for the “disgusting” sport to be banned.
“I have no sympathy for the #matador who was gored to death by the bull today. It’s a disgusting sport and should be banned!” she tweeted.
A Mrs Drakers tweeted: “Maybe the death of Victor Barrio might finally see an end to the horrific “sport” of bullfighting.”
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