Saturday, December 24, 2005
Where the Buffalo Rage
Deutsche Presse-Agentur December 24, 2005, Saturday 07:30:21 Central European Time
Military hunts down rogue buffalo that killed two in Vietnam
DATELINE: Hanoi. Water buffalo crazed from a fight with another bull went on a deadly rampage in northern Vietnam, killing its handler and an onlooker and injuring at least four others, officials said Saturday.
Local officials called in the military to hunt down the rogue beast. Army units shot down the buffalo that evening, according to Nguyen Cong Hung, deputy chairman of the local commune. Farmer Vu Van Nam, 22, and four friends were herding eight buffaloes to a slaughterhouse in Hai Duong province, 50 kilometres east of Hanoi, when two of the bulls started fighting, "The losing buffalo ran away and the winner could not catch it. So the winning beast turned back with angry eyes and chased the men.
It gored Vu Van Nam in the stomach and threw him to the ground," Hung said. A local resident, Pham Van Doan, 55, came out of his home to see what had happened. When the buffalo saw Doan, it chased him and gored him too. Both men were rushed to a local hospital on Thursday afternoon but died the same day.
The buffalo escaped by swimming across a nearby river, injuring at least four more people on the far banks, Hung said. Local army units were asked to hunt the beast down and they shot it to death Thursday night.
Military hunts down rogue buffalo that killed two in Vietnam
DATELINE: Hanoi. Water buffalo crazed from a fight with another bull went on a deadly rampage in northern Vietnam, killing its handler and an onlooker and injuring at least four others, officials said Saturday.
Local officials called in the military to hunt down the rogue beast. Army units shot down the buffalo that evening, according to Nguyen Cong Hung, deputy chairman of the local commune. Farmer Vu Van Nam, 22, and four friends were herding eight buffaloes to a slaughterhouse in Hai Duong province, 50 kilometres east of Hanoi, when two of the bulls started fighting, "The losing buffalo ran away and the winner could not catch it. So the winning beast turned back with angry eyes and chased the men.
It gored Vu Van Nam in the stomach and threw him to the ground," Hung said. A local resident, Pham Van Doan, 55, came out of his home to see what had happened. When the buffalo saw Doan, it chased him and gored him too. Both men were rushed to a local hospital on Thursday afternoon but died the same day.
The buffalo escaped by swimming across a nearby river, injuring at least four more people on the far banks, Hung said. Local army units were asked to hunt the beast down and they shot it to death Thursday night.
