A Philippine police officer has died after his femoral artery was sliced open by a fighting cock during a raid on an illegal cockfight.
Lieutenant Christine Bolok was struck by the rooster’s gaff – a razor-sharp steel blade which is typically attached to the leg of fighting roosters. The blade cut his left thigh, slicing his femoral artery. He was rushed to hospital and declared dead on arrival.
AFP quoted Northern Samar police chief Colonel Arnel Apud as saying the incident was ‘unfortunate’, and a ‘a piece of bad luck that I cannot explain’.
‘I could not believe it when it was first reported to me,’ he said. ‘This is the first time in my 25 years as a policeman that I lost a man due to a fighting cock’s spur.’
The government news wire, The Philippine News Agency, said cockfighting had been banned during the Covid-19 pandemic, but that, before the outbreak, it was allowed only in licensed cockpits on Sundays and legal holidays, as well as during local fiestas lasting a maximum of three days.
[Picture: Toàn Nguyễn from Pixabay]