The incident happened last week.

Eustaquio Martín, 71, who was identified locally, died on Saturday, February 14, on the first night of the local Carnaval del Toro festival.

Martín’s death was confirmed by officials in Ciudad Rodrigo, near Salamanca in northwestern Spain, according to outlet La Gaceta.

He was a popular member of the local bullfighting community who worked each year at the festival.

Martín was reportedly in a bullring at around 1am local time on Saturday, during the first nighttime bullfighting event of the festival when a bull charged him.

The bull pierced the upper part of his ribcage causing “catastrophic” bleeding during the savage attack, it has been reported.

Speaking for outlet La Gaceta, Dr. Enrique Crespo said that the bleeding was “uncontrollable and catastrophic.”

Despite best efforts after he was rushed to a local hospital, he died as a result of his injuries.

“The wound, in the center of his chest, left his heart partially destroyed and half a lung damaged”, the doctor said.

Mayor of Ciudad Rodrigo, Marcos Iglesias Caridad, confirmed the fatal accident in a post on social media.

“As you know from the media, sadly a countryman of ours, very dear, has died in the night capea. We send a hug to his family and friends and are with them in their grief. At 11 o'clock, just before the Toro del Antruejo, we will keep in the area of the Pinos a minute of silence. R.I.P.”, he wrote on Facebook.

This incident marks the first death at the Carnaval del Toro (Carnival of the Bull) in 40 years.

The last death occurred in 1986, when a man named Miguel Ángel Garzón died during a bullfighting event.

The festival's official Facebook page shared a statement about the incident, writing: “It's one of the things we would have NEVER liked to see or live. We are shocked. It's something we knew was happening in the libraries. Remembering that date in '86 started to result from another era, another way to understand our Carnival.

“We saw so many [participants] always saved by the formidable medical teams we have. It seemed like this would never happen again. This is why the shock is hard to digest. A big hug to the family”, the festival wrote.