Animal rights group AnimaNaturalis said in a statement that director Aida Gascon and colleague Yasmina Moreno had been pounced on and attacked on Friday in the town of Mas de Barberans in the Catalonia region after planning to video a 'correbou', in which bulls are set loose in a ring with flaming balls of tar or wax attached to their horns.

A police official speaking on condition of anonymity because of office policy said three men and one woman were arrested on suspicion of assault and damaging property, and would appear before an investigating judge within hours.

Video handout provided by animal rights group AnimaNaturalis purported to show the women being attacked and stripped of their camera.

In the melee, one man was seen climbing from the bullring into the stands while other crowd members approached from the sides.

Eventually, one man was seen hurling the camera forcefully to the ground.

Cheers and clapping erupted from onlookers as the camera smashed into the bullring's raked sand, AP reported.

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