Vietnam buffalo fight suspended after animal kills owner

A boy walks with water buffaloes in Sapa, northwest Vietnam, in this file photo. Vietnamese authorities have suspended a traditional water buffalo fight after an animal attacked and killed its owner.(Reuters file photo)

HANOI, Vietnam: Authorities in northern Vietnam have suspended a traditional water buffalo fight after an animal attacked and killed its owner.
Do Van Viet, a local official in the resort town of Do Son where the fight took place, said the buffalo was killed and samples were taken to determine whether it had been given a stimulant.
Traditional buffalo fighting was halted during the Vietnam War and resumed 27 years ago. Viet said several buffalo have died in the fights that pit the animals against each other, but Saturday’s death was the first human fatality since the fights resumed.
Viet said the buffalo at first chased the owner of the second animal but failed to catch him and then turned on its owner, who died several hours later from multiple wounds.