Buffalo rampages after Vietnam restaurant escape

A buffalo about to be slaughtered at a restaurant escaped and rampaged through the streets of Vietnam's capital, injuring one man and throwing traffic into chaos, police said Friday. Policeman Nguyen Dang Hau said the owners of the Loc Vung restaurant in Hanoi told him they were trying to kill the animal when it broke free of its tether and ran off down the road on Thursday. Hau was on duty at Chuong Duong Bridge, a major artery over the Red River two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the restaurant, when the melee erupted. "All of a sudden I saw a big buffalo running quickly all over the place, before it headed towards me," he said. The animal galloped into oncoming lunchtime traffic and injured one man in the head and the body. "I immediately ordered the owner to kill this buffalo at the other end of the bridge," Hau said. "It was really dangerous because many curious people had been following this animal's journey through the street." The policeman and three other men, including the buffalo's owner, spent 30 minutes capturing the animal, eventually surrounding it and tying it up with a rope still attached to its nose. The owner then killed it with a knife. The injured man was taken to Viet Duc hospital, but staff were not able to comment on his condition. Tuoi Tre newspaper website showed a photograph of the dead creature lying on the blood-stained bridge. Buffalo meat is popular in Vietnam, where the animals are still used for farm work.