Five injured as bull attacks crowd

FIVE spectators have been injured - one seriously - at a bullfight in the south of France after the bull jumped into the front row of a grandstand.

A man in his 40s is in a critical condition with severe abdominal injuries following the incident on Saturday afternoon at the bullring in Saint-Chaptes, near Nîmes.

Among the other four injured is an 11-year-old girl. All five were sitting in the front row when the bull charged towards the fighter and made a jump into the audience.

The town's mayor said the venue was fully compliant with its safety requirements.

One of the event's organisers told France Info: "I saw the bull go for the protective fence. Everyone was panicking. People were falling all over the place.

"If a bull is capable of jumping over walls several metres high, it shouldn't be brought to an event like this."

In 2012, eight people suffered minor injuries when a bull escaped into the crowd at a fight in Quissac, Gard.

News of this latest incident comes just days after it was announced that bullfighting has been taken off France’s national list of ‘intangible heritage’ in what anti-corrida campaigners have hailed as a victory for their cause.