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Spain

Spanish bullfighter gored to death on live TV

Ryan W. Miller
USA TODAY

A bullfighter in Spain was fatally gored during a live television broadcast, the first professional matador killed in the ring in more than 30 years.

Spanish bullfighter Victor Barrio performs during a bullfight in 2011.

Victor Barrio, 29, died late Saturday at the bullring in the eastern town of Teruel, the Associated Press reported. The 1,166-pound bull gored Barrio twice, first in the thigh, knocking him down, then again in the chest, penetrating his lung and aorta.

Medics were quickly at his side, but attempts to save his life failed. Barrio's death in the ring prompted widespread reaction throughout Spain.

"My condolences to the family and colleagues of Victor Barrio, the deceased bullfighter this evening in Teruel. Rest in Peace,” Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy tweeted.

Barrio's wife, Raquel Sanz, was in the crowd during the mauling, the Daily Mail reported, as she and the crowd watched in horror.

"I have no words, my life is gone," Sanz tweeted.

Bullfighter Enrique Ponce also tweeted that he was “deeply saddened by the death of my colleague in the ring. Let God embrace him in all his glory. Great matador.”

Barrio was the first professional matador to die during a bullfight in Spain since 1985, when Frenchman Jose Cubero Yiyo, 21, was fatally gored in Madrid.

Bullfighting is legal in most of Spain. Every summer, the famed running of the bulls takes place in Pamplona and other towns. Participants running Sunday in the streets of Pamplona wore black armbands to honor Barrio, the AP reported.

During Sunday's run at Pamplona's San Fermin festival, two Spanish men were in serious condition after being gored, Reuters reported. Three others sustained head injuries.

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