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Two investigations have been opened after police were forced to shoot and kill a bull that had escaped its pen and ran into crowds, leaving six people injured, at a feria in southwest France.

The animal was about to enter the bullring at the annual event in Vergèze, Gard, on Sunday, when it got out of its holding pen and charged into a crowd of people.
Feria organisers cancelled the rest of the day's events - the final day of the féria du Rhôny - following the incident.

Two of the officers needed treatment after being thrown into the air 'several times' by the animal as they tried to bring it down, police said. "It took several shots to shoot it down and avoid carnage in the crowd," a spokesman told news agency AFP following the incident.

They were already on the scene as they had recently been in the area monitoring an anti-bullfighting demonstration.

Investigations have been opened into the chain of events that led to the animal escaping, and the police use of weapons.