Hundreds of spectators attended a local taurin spectacle in an arena, when the three stages of wooden stands tilted forward.
Le Monde with AFP
At least four people died and thirty was seriously injured in the collapse of the stands of an arena, Sunday, June 26, in Espinal – a Colombian city of some 78,000 inhabitants located 150 kilometers southwest De Bogota -said local authorities. “There are four people who died at the moment. Two women, an adult man and a minor,” said on a local radio Jose Ricardo Orozco, governor of the department of Tolima.
The accident took place during a local taurin show, a kind of popular festival during which the public descends into the arena to face oxen and small bulls. A whole section of wooden stands on three floors, crowded with spectators, collapsed, throwing dozens of people on the ground, according to spectacular images taken by a drone and recovered by the France-Presse agency.
Breaking: At Least Four People Were Killed and more than 500 Were INJURED when a stadium collapse during a bulfig… https://t.co/dptombgznt
“More or less thirty people are seriously injured (…) It is a preliminary report, they are still transferring the wounded,” added Governor Jose Ricardo Orozco.
“We are still waiting to see how many people are under the rubble, we do not know how much. As you can see in the videos, almost the whole wing was filled with people and she collapsed,” declared to the same radio station Major Luis Fernando Vélez, Director of the Civil Protection Department of Tolima.
a well -established tradition, but dangerous
Another amateur video shows the audience trying to escape wood and sheet debris while a bull continues to prowl in the arena.
#accidente este fue el momento en el que se desploman varios palcos improvisados de una plaza de toros en el es Espina… https://t.co/hwrvobzaxk
The accident occurred at the Gilberto Charry arenas during the holiday weekend where the most popular San Pedro celebrations are celebrated in the region. “We are going to ask for an investigation into the facts (…). Solidarity with the families of the victims,” said Colombian President Ivan Duque – his successor, Gustavo Pedro, elected at the head of the country on June 19, will be invested on the country August 7.
Governor Orozco warned that he was going to ask for “the suspension of all these types of festivities”, affirming that these events “wait for life” of animals and encourage “their mistreatment”. The day before, several people had been injured by bulls at this same celebration at Espinal.
controversial bullfights
The new Colombian president Gustavo Petro added his voice to that of the governor. “I ask town halls to no longer allow shows involving the death of people or animals,” he commented on Twitter, recalling the death of hundreds of people in the collapse of another arena in The municipality of SincElejo (north of the country) in 1980.
When he was mayor of Bogota (2012-2015), Gustavo Petro had ended bullfights at Santamaría, the emblematic arena of the capital. Colombian justice punishes the ill -treatment inflicted on animals, but practices such as bullfighting and rooster fights always take place as cultural events.