02 February 2004	Monday	10 Zilhaj 1424

ANKARA, Feb 1: A total of 429 people were treated across Turkey on Sunday for cuts and fractured limbs they suffered while trying to slaughter sheep and cows to mark Eid al-Adha, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Several faithful rushed to hospitals with knife cuts to their hands after they took to slaughtering animals themselves rather than finding a butcher to do the job.

Others came in with concussion and fractures to their arms and legs after they were kicked by panicked animals, the report said.

Most of the amateur butchers were discharged, it added. In Turkey, the authorities set up special abattoirs with professional butchers and ambulances for Eid al-Adha, in a bid to stop people from slaughtering their animals anywhere they wanted. But many still preferred to carry out their religious duty personally and slit the throat of the animals themselves, despite the risk of injury. -AFP