A female water buffalo gored two butchers at a slaughterhouse before going on a rampage through the Philippine capital, terrorising hundreds of people and tossing furniture in the lobby of a small hotel.
The three-year-old female, weighing nearly half a ton, injured a total of three people with its 46-centimetre horns and caused the evacuation of about 200 call centre workers during its two-hour bid for freedom.
“I ran, but it was faster. It tossed me into the air with its horns and when I woke up, I was being stitched up in hospital,” said the first butcher Jonet Rufino, 35, who required 14 stitches to a wound on his backside.
The animal broke loose as it arrived by truck at a central Manila abattoir and went after the butchers with its potentially lethal horns, said police investigator James Bagay.
It then galloped through some of the city’s busiest streets, goring a female bystander before reaching the Cubao business district, more than a kilometre away and entered the hotel lobby before breaking into the call centre.
The huge animal was eventually trapped about two hours after the rampage began.
“The animal was probably stressed after the overnight trip. Its handlers should have paid more attention,” Bagay said.
He added the buffalo, which was taken to a police station, would likely still be destined for the abattoir.
