Bull kills longtime worker on farm near Subotica
On a family farm in Gornji Tavankut, a bull gored to death a 56-year-old worker who had cared for the animal for years. The scene was examined and the file sent to prosecutors in Subotica.
- The accident happened on June 11, at around 11 a.m., on a family farm in Gornji Tavankut near Subotica.
- The victim, identified as T. H. (56), was a local resident and a longtime farm worker who suffered life-threatening injuries when the bull attacked him.
- According to reports, the man had fed and tended that very animal for years.
- Police examined the scene and forwarded the file to the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Subotica.
A worker who had cared for livestock for years was killed on Thursday on a family farm in Gornji Tavankut near Subotica. According to reports, a bull he fed and tended himself inflicted life-threatening injuries on him. The accident happened on June 11, at around 11 a.m., in the yard where the man went about his daily work.
The victim was T. H. (56), a local resident and a longtime worker on the property. Police and an ambulance crew reached the scene at once. Doctors, however, could only confirm his death. The injuries were such that help was no longer possible.
Police examined the farm. According to reports, the file has been forwarded to the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Subotica, which will establish the circumstances that led to the accident. An official account of exactly what happened has not yet been released.
How did the accident on the farm happen?
The detailed sequence of events has not yet been officially confirmed. By early, unofficial accounts, the worker was alone in the pen with the animal when the attack occurred. In such cases help usually arrives too late, because the injuries inflicted by large livestock are very hard to survive.
On rural holdings, bulls are kept for breeding and rank among the most powerful animals on a farm. A grown head easily tops half a tonne, and when agitated it becomes unpredictable even toward a person it knows. The experience and trust built up over years between a keeper and an animal offer no protection at such moments.
That is what makes this case especially hard for the local community. The man who died was not a passerby. He was, neighbours say, the person who fed and tended that animal day after day, over many years. What had been part of a daily routine ended in tragedy.
What will the prosecutors establish?
Prosecutors in Subotica are now reviewing the circumstances of the accident. The aim is to determine whether all safety measures for working with large livestock were observed on the property. The legal classification of the case, and whether anyone will bear responsibility, depend on that.
In cases of this type, investigators check how the animal was kept, the condition of the pen, and whether the worker had adequate conditions for safe work. While the review continues, the event is treated as a tragic accident, without prejudging the outcome. Until the prosecutors release their findings, the causes can only be discussed tentatively.
Accidents involving large livestock on rural holdings rarely draw attention, yet they happen and they take the lives of people who spend their entire working lives alongside these animals. In your view, how much attention do safety measures on small family farms really receive?
