Madrid, July 10 (IANS): A Spanish matador was gored to death when a bull's horn pierced his chest -- the first matador fatality in the ring in Spain this century.
Victor Barrio, 29, a professional bullfighter, on Saturday suffered a mortal blow during his performance in Spain's Teruel town, the Daily Mail reported.
His shocked wife, Raquel Sanz, was among the audience to witness the tragedy, while Barrio's fellow matadors rushed to help him.
The matador was taken to the hospital unconscious but doctors could not save him.
Barrio was rolled to the ground in a painful somersault after the 87-stone beast caught him while he tried to deflect it with the "muletazo" manoeuvre -- a movement with a muleta; a red cape used in conjunction with the sword by bullfighters, the media reported.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy paid his condolences to Barrio.
Rajoy shared his sympathies on Twitter, and Spanish politician Cristina Cifuentes wrote: "All my love to your family and friends. DEP".
A comment on the official feed of the Las Ventas bull ring in Madrid, where Barrio began as an apprentice, said it was "distressed and very moved" by his death, BBC reported.
The last matador to die in a bullfight in Spain was Jose Cubero, or Yiyo, in 1985.
In the past century, 134 persons, including 33 matadors, had been killed by bulls in Spain.
In 2015, leading matador Francisco Rivera Ordonez was badly hurt while taking part in a bullfight in Huesca town.
About 2,000 bullfights are still held every year in Spain, but the numbers are falling. In 2010, Catalonia became the second Spanish region after the Canary Islands to ban the tradition.
Also on Saturday, a 28-year-old man died after being gored by a bull during a bull run through the village of Pedreguer, near Valencia in Spain.
In the other incident on Saturday, a man was killed while running alongside bulls in Pedreguer. The media said he was trying to help another runner when he was gored in the throat and abdomen.
A 33-year-old Japanese man was also gored in the chest and a Spanish man in the arm in the San Fermin bull running festival in Pamplona on Saturday. At least 12 people were injured, officials said.