Chilling Encounter: Bullfighter’s Fatal Clash with Bull Captured in Terrifying Instant

Ever wonder what it takes to stare down a 700-kilo beast charging at you full throttle? Manuel Maria Trindade, a 22-year-old bullfighter stepping into the spotlight for his debut at Lisbon’s Campo Pequeno, learned the harrowing truth the hard way. Tasked as the ‘forcado’ to provoke the bull in the heart-stopping ‘face catch’ finale, Manuel’s bold move turned tragic when the furious animal zeroed in on him, tossing him against the arena wall before a stunned crowd. It’s a brutal reminder that in the theater of traditional Portuguese bullfighting—where skill, tradition, and raw danger collide—sometimes, the beast truly has the final say. Curious to see how this chilling incident unfolded and the cultural nuances behind the spectacle? LEARN MORE.

A 22-year-old bullfighter has died after he was brutally picked up and slammed against a wall by the one of the animals in front of thousands of spectators.

Manuel Maria Trindade was making his debut at the Campo Pequeno Bullring in Lisbon, Portugal, on Friday (22 August) when horror struck.

He was acting as the ‘forcado’, meaning that it was his job to provoke the bull into charging for the ‘pega de cara’ performance, which is also known as ‘face catch’.

This is the final event in a typical Portuguese bullfight which sees several bullfighters form a single-file line before each attempting to subdue the animal and ultimately bring it to a stop.

Tragically, it appears that the animal only had eyes for Trindade – as after he enraged the 700kg bull, it bolted directly towards him at high speed.

Chilling footage from the event at Campo Pequeno which has been circulating on social media shows how the young forcado desperately tried to bring the beast under control by grabbing onto its horns.

However, he proved no match for the animal and it hoisted him into the air while smashing through his fellow bullfighters.

Trindade seen provoking the bull seconds before it bolted at him on Friday (X)

It eventually reached the wall of the arena and mercilessly threw Trindade into it as those sat in the 6,848-seat venue watched on in horror.

His fellow performers were eventually able to restrain the animal while paramedics rushed into the ring to treat the 22-year-old for severe head injuries, according to reports.

Trindade was then rushed to São José Hospital and placed in an induced coma, but he sadly passed away less than 24 hours later after suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest, as per the Daily Mail.

Tributes have been pouring in for the forcado, who had followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the São Manços amateur bullfighting troupe.

The firm behind Friday’s deadly clash at Campo Pequeno said it was sending its ‘deepest condolences to the family, to the Grupo de Forcados Amadores de S. Manços and to all of the young man’s friends’.

The fate of the bull involved in the incident remains unclear, although in Portugal, it is illegal to kill the animals in the ring at the end of a bullfight.

Although that’s the way the show is usually wrapped up in Spain, the nation instead takes the competing bulls away to be slaughtered professionally.

The 22-year-old’s fellow bullfighters struggled to wrestle the animal away from him (X)

It’s because of a royal law from 1836 which banned the killing of bulls in the ring, which was later bolstered by another law in 1928 which explicitly bans the killing of bulls.

Local media reports claim that during Friday’s fatal bullfight, a member of the crowd also passed away.

Orthopaedic surgeon Vasco Morais Batista, 73, is said to have began feeling unwell during the event and was rushed to hospital, according to Touro E Ouro.

Despite the best efforts of medics on scene and at the hospital, Batista reportedly died after doctors realised he had an aortic aneurysm, which can be fatal if it ruptures.

According to the British Heart Foundation, this term describes ‘a swelling or bulging at any point along the aorta’ and it usually occurs when the wall of the aorta ‘has become weakened or can’t stretch as well as it should’.

Bullfighting remains legal in most of Spain, Portugal, France, the Philippines and a handful of other countries, much to the dismay of animal rights groups.

Although it comes with the risk of death or at the very least serious harm to both the bull and the bullfighters, the controversial practice remains popular with many and is viewed as an art form or cultural event.