Spooked cow kills man at Eid festival

Gaza - Sacrificial animals intended for Eid slaughter have turned the tables on their owners, causing their deaths. In two unrelated incidents Muslims preparing for the Eid festival were killed by their intended animal victims, in Algeria and Gaza.

During the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival it is traditional to slaughter a cow, goat or sheep to commemorate the sacrifice by the Prophet Ibrahim. However, two ritual slaughters brought on the deaths of the slaughterers this year. According to the Charlotte Observer a 52-year-old man was trampled to death by the cow he intended to slaughter in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah. The spooked cow apparently ran wild, causing serious injuries to another three people as well as the dead man. The health ministry said the dead man suffered from heart problems. The Telegraph reported the death prompted Ibrahim Al Kidra, deputy minister of agriculture, to urge people to use professionals to make their sacrifices, instead of trying to do it themselves. Meanwhile Emirates 247 reported on the rather bizarre death of an Algerian man who was butted to death by a ram. The man had purchased the ram to sacrifice it on Eid, but "as he prepared it for sacrifice, the ram surprisingly butted the man, who fell on the ground and died minutes later."