A police officer was killed by a rooster while trying in the Philippines to break up an illegal cockfight, officials said.
Police in the province of Northern Samar said Lieutenant Christian Bolok was hit by the gaff of a rooster — a metal blade attached to a bird for combat.
As he confiscated the bird, the gaff struck Bolok’s femoral artery, police said, adding: “He was rushed to the provincial hospital but was pronounced dead due to heavy blood loss on arrival.”
There is a long tradition of both legal and illegal cockfighting in the Philippines, but after it was discovered to have been a cause of COVID-19 infections, the sport was outlawed in the region in August.
The country’s illegal cockfights are known as “tupada” and mostly occur in secret areas to discourage officials from finding them.
“I have a heavy heart as we have lost a brother who sacrificed his own life in the name of service,” Northern Samar police provincial director Arnel Apud said in a statement sent to the government-run Philippines News Agency. “The (Philippine National Police) grieves the untimely death of Lt. Bolok and extends its deepest sympathy to his family and relatives.”
The Philippines News Agency announced that three persons were apprehended at the event and three other suspects were found but still at large after fleeing the raid.