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Nine thrill-seeking runners were injured, three by goring, in a dangerous last running of the bulls at Spain''s San Fermin festival, officials said Wednesday. It was the most hurt in any day during this year''s festival.

Bulls tossed people on the slippery cobblestone streets of Pamplona, where one red bull at the tail of the pack fell and became separated from the rest.

Navarra Hospital doctor Fernando Boneta said five runners had been taken to the hospital. He said one of those gored was injured in the abdomen, another was gored in an armpit and one person had an arm injury. Boneta said one of the three gorings had only just punctured the skin but did not specify what the other injuries were.

Later, the regional government of Navarra said in a statement that the number of injured had risen to nine, including a 30-year-old Irish citizen, a New Zealander, 26, from Auckland and seven Spaniards from four different regions.

The eighth and final running of this year''s festival took four minutes and 23 seconds, a relatively long time because the last bull turned and charged backward at least three times, causing panic among runners.

Bulls are at their most dangerous when the pack splits up, leaving individual animals disoriented and irritated by the large crowds.

Every morning of the festival at 8am, six bulls are guided through the narrow, medieval streets of Pamplona by an equal number of large steers - each wearing a clanking cowbell - whose task is to keep the pack tight and galloping at an even pace.

The run covers 930-yards (850-meters) from a holding pen on the edge of town to the central bull ring where the bulls will face matadors and almost certain death in the afternoon.

The final bull, a massive red-colored beast called Gavioto from the renowned Jandilla ranch, turned around at least three times to charge people running toward him from behind before finally being coaxed into a pen at the bullring, the final destination. In the ring, Gavioto tossed a man in the air, partially removing his trousers with the tip of his right horn.

The runs are the highlight of a nine-day festival, which also features all-night partying and attracts tens of thousands of people, many from overseas.

Several people were treated by Red Cross crews on the street after the run for bruises and cuts sustained in falls.