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A Filipino police officer was killed during a raid in an illegal cockfight after a rooster’s blade severed his femoral artery, an official said Tuesday.
Cockfighting is a popular bloody sport in the archipelago where money is wagered on the outcome of a fight, often to the death, between two colorful birds armed with sharp spurs.
It has been banned along with other sporting and cultural events during the coronavirus pandemic to prevent large crowds from gathering and spreading the contagion.
Monday’s bizarre accident in central Northern Samar province occurred when Lt. Christian Bolok picked up a gamecock while gathering evidence of the illegal event.
Its blade struck his left thigh and he bled to death, provincial police chief Colonel Arnel Apud told AFP.
“It was an unfortunate accident and bad luck that I cannot explain,” Apud said.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was first informed. This is the first time in my 25 years as a cop that I have lost a man to the spur of a fighting cock.”
Three people were arrested and two fighting cocks seized along with two sets of spurs in the raid in the city of San José, where Bolok was the chief of police, Apud added.
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