PAMPLONA (Spain) — The Red Cross says four people were gored on the fifth day of the running of the bulls in the Spanish city of Pamplona.

One bull charged into runners packing the narrow streets and gored one deeply in a thigh while cutting another runner’s leg as it lifted its head.

Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba said four people were receiving treatment after being gored Saturday while at least five others were recovering from bruises.

Normally six bulls run in the San Fermin festival, but on this occasion one of them turned back and returned to its corral.

The run covers 930-yards (850-metres) from a holding pen on the edge of town to the central bullring where the large animals face matadors and almost certain death in afternoon bullfights.

One participant had a narrow escape as he stopped running without realizing that two bulls were thundering down the alley immediately behind him. Their horns narrowly missed him. 

The cobblestone streets of Pamplona were packed with thrill-seekers who had traveled to the northern city to take part in the annual San Fermin festivities. The weekend runs are traditionally the most popular and well-attended.

The nine-day fiesta was immortalized in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises". 

Every morning of the festival at 8am (2pm, Singapore time), six bulls bred for fighting race through the narrow, medieval streets accompanied by an equal number of large steers _ each wearing a clanking cowbell _ tasked with keeping the pack tight and galloping at an even pace.

According to San Fermin experts commenting for state television TVE, the last time a bull turned back and headed to the holding pen during a run was in the 19th century. AP