Idiots on Parade (An Idiocracy in Pictures)

Bloodiest day yet of this year’s Running of the Bulls

Tradition: Revelers from around the world arrive to Pamplona every year to take part on some of the eight days of the running of the bulls

Annual event: Fifteen people have been killed at the annual festival, made famous by a 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel, since records began in 1911

Run: The event has become increasingly popular with foreigners, who join the locals by staying up all night drinking and partying before thousands compete in the 8am run

Draw: Pamplona's population of 200,000 swells to around two million during the festival, the largest in Spain

Aggression: An 'El Pilar' fighting bull charges against a reveler

Count: Hospital authorities initially said four people were gored but the regional government revised that down to three

Sport: A young woman tries to outrun a the bull, but does not succeed, at the close of the running-with-the-bulls in the old city of Pamplona

Fail: The woman does not succeed as she runs ahead while the bull makes contact

Sport: A young woman tries to outrun a bull at the close of the running-with-the-bulls in the old city of Pamplona

Duration: Today's event lasted just under five minutes, roughly double the normal length. Longer runs normally occur when some of the bulls get separated from the pack and become disoriented and more dangerous

Runners make their way through the streets with

An 'El Pilar' fighting bull runs during the running of the bulls o

The black bull which caused most panic Friday made several more attempts to charge people before he was eventually guided along the narrow streets to join the rest for the pack in the pen of the packed bull ring

Legend: Ernest Hemingway popularized the week-long fiesta in his book The Sun Also Rises in 1926

Deaths: The fighting bulls used in the centuries-old fiesta can weigh up to at 1,380 pounds (625 kilograms) and have killed 15 people since record-keeping began in 1924

Horrifying: Three people were gored today on the bloodiest day of the famous Spanish Running of the Bulls festival so far this year

Menacing: The runner gets tossed in the air by an El Pilar fighting bull after getting gored on Estafeta street during the sixth running of the bull

A runner gets gored by a bull on Estafeta street during the sixth running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 12, 2013. Four runners were gored in a run that lasted four minutes and fifty seven seconds, according to local media. REUTERS/Susana Vera (SPAIN - Tags: ANIMALS SOCIETY)

Trapped: The man is caught between the horns of an El Pilar fighting bull after being gored

Horrifying: Three people were gored today on the bloodiest day of the famous Spanish Running of the Bulls festival so far this year

Menacing: The runner gets tossed in the air by an El Pilar fighting bull after getting gored on Estafeta street during the sixth running of the bull

Trapped: The man is caught between the horns of an El Pilar fighting bull after being gored

He spent 40 seconds at the mercy of the massive black beast before helpers managed to drag him to safety.

Incredibly, he survived. But yesterday the incident reignited controversy over this year’s Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain, on what became its bloodiest day.

Three people were gored and at least six badly injured in the run, celebrated annually by participants from all over the world and universally condemned by campaigners against animal cruelty.

Dramatic footage of the 31-year-old Spaniard’s terrifying brush with death showed him losing his footing as he and others ran ahead of a single bull.

Desperate: The man tries to escape the bull as a steward gets out a stick to distract the angry animal

Attack: The half-ton beast gored the 31-year-old twice in the groin and once in the leg

Frantic: A runner pulls on the tail of the bull in an attempt to distract it and make it drop the mauled man

Terror: Other runners tried to distract the animal by grabbing its tail and waving newspapers at it. But a friend was only able to drag him away after more than half a minute of terror

Emergency: The injured man, from the eastern Spanish province of Castellon between Barcelona and Alicante, was undergoing an emergency operation this morning. His condition was described as 'serious'