At least four people have been killed and 30 others seriously injured when a grandstand in a bullring in Colombia collapsed during an event.
“There are currently four people dead: two women, a man and a child,” Tolima department governor Jose Ricardo Orozco told local radio after the incident in the central city of El Espinal .
A full three-story section of wooden bleachers full of spectators collapsed and threw dozens of people to the ground, according to images posted on social media.
“There are about 30 people seriously injured. This is a preliminary report,” Orozco said, noting that emergency personnel were still evacuating the injured to hospitals in the area for treatment.
Local civil protection chief Luis Fernando Velez said they did not know how many people were still buried among the rubble, but noted that the bleachers section was full when it collapsed.
The event was part of the celebrations around the festival of Sant Pere, the most popular in the region.
Orozco said the departmental government would ban so-called “corralejas” in which local residents try their luck in the ring, saying they were dangerous and promote animal abuse.
On Saturday, several people were injured in accidents in the corrals of El Espinal, where about 78,000 people live, and is about 150 kilometers from the capital Bogota.
More to come.
Posted 53 minutes ago 53 minutes ago dig. June 26, 2022 at 9:08 pm, updated 16 minutes ago 16 minutes ago dig. June 26, 2022 at 9:45 p.m.