HẢI PHÒNG — The buffalo that gored its owner to death at Đồ Sơn Buffalo Fighting Festival in Hải Phòng on Saturday had not been injected with any stimulant to make it aggressive, local authority has announced.

After the incident, the city and district police shot down the buffalo, numbered 18 in the festival, and collected blood samples for testing. Hoàng Trung Hiếu, deputy chairman of Đồ Sơn District People’s Committee, shared the test results with Pháp luật TP HCM (HCM City Law) newspaper.

People at the festival suspected that the buffalo was injected with a stimulant to make it more aggressive while fighting, he said.

“It’s a local spirit festival, and not organised to meet trade targets or any other goal. The incident was unexpected,” Hiếu said, adding that such festivals held in the country and world over have their own limited risks, and the same holds for this buffalo fighting festival in the northern port city.

Another buffalo owner who was participating in the festival, however, said buffalo No 18 had been behaving peculiarly even before the festival began. It had refused to go to the village’s communal house before the event, and had got angry when it was forced to go by its owner, he said.

On Sunday, a delegation of officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, led by Deputy Minister Trịnh Thị Thủy, visited the family of the victim, Đinh Xuân Hướng, 47.

Thủy said the ministry would sit with the municipal people’s committee to reconsider whether the festival should continue to be held in the future. "We will gather opinions from concerned organisations, experts and the community before making a decision," she said.

The incident took place on Saturday morning. The buffalo gored Hướng in the thigh, chest and neck, and threw him into the air. He died in the afternoon owing to severe injuries. — VNS