Top matador gored to death

Aire-Sur-L’adour – Renowned Spanish bullfighter Ivan Fandino died in hospital on Saturday after being gored by a bull during a fight in south-western France, a medical service source said.

The 36-year-old stumbled in the bullring after catching his feet in his cloak and was gored by the bull, whose horn punctured his lung. The Basque fighter was performing at the Aire-sur-l’Adour bullfighting festival in France with fellow matadors Juan Del Alamo and Thomas Dufau.

The last time a bullfighter was killed while performing was in July 2016, when Spanish matador Victor Barrio, 29, was gored in the chest live on television. Just a month earlier, 64-year-old Mexican fighter El Pana died after weeks in hospital, having also been gored in the chest.

Hailing from Ordonu, Fandino was well-known for his daring, never hesitating to fight bulls that his colleagues had declined to take on.

In Bilbao in 2012, he single-handedly took on six bulls put forward by six different breeders.

A year ago, the regional government of Castilla y Leon banned the killing of bulls at town festivals. –