Manuel Maria Trindade: Bullfighter gored by 695kg bull in front of horrified crowd

WARNING: Graphic vision

An up-and-coming bullfighter has died after being gored by a 695kg bull and rammed against a wall as a horrified crowd watched on.

Manuel Maria Trindade was making his debut at Lisbon’s Campo Pequeno bullring, staring down the bull when, in just seconds, things took a fatal turn.

Trindade had been attempting a pega de cara (a face catch), by grabbing the bull’s horns but was instead hoisted into the air by the rampaging beast.

The bull with massive horns dropped its head and galloped towards the 22-year-old “forcado” — the name of Portuguese fighters who deliberately provoke the bull into charging — goring him and ramming a handful of others that tried to come to his aid into the arena’s fencing.

Vision of the incident shows a group of panicked bullfighters frantically waving pink and yellow capes in the face of the bull and grabbing onto its tail to stop the attack while Trindade lies slumped on the ground.

The crowd at the 6848-seat arena can be heard screaming as the grisly incident plays out.

Paramedics tried to save Trindade before he was rushed to São José Hospital where he was put in an induced coma, but died hours later of a cardiac arrest, Daily Mail reports.

An audience member, a 73-year-old orthopedic surgeon, also died in hospital shortly after the incident after falling ill.

Trindade had previously fought for fought for the São Manços amateur bullfighting troupe and was continuing a family tradition by following in his father’s footsteps.

Unlike Spanish bullfights where bulls are killed by a matador at the end of a performance, in Portugal the bull is instead wrestled to a standstill by a group of eight unarmed forcados. During the performance the fighters each try to jump on its back one at a time.

The bulls are then usually taken away to be slaughtered.

Trindade’s mother, Alzira Trindade, has hit out at trolls celebrating her son’s death.

In an open letter to Portuguese animal rights political party People-Animals-Nature and its supporters, she wrote “I want to thank you for all your applause, laughter, and rejoicing over my son’s death. Did you know him well enough to be happy about his death? Do you know if he liked animals?

“My son belonged to a group of brothers who wear a jacket with honor and bravery. These groups never harmed a bull; they handled it skillfully!”