4 dead, hundreds injured as bullfighting stadium collapse in Colombia: officials
Posted June 26, 2022 3:36 pm.
Last Updated June 26, 2022 10:44 pm.
At least four people are dead and hundreds more have been injured following a stadium collapse in Colombia on Sunday.
The disaster took place in a stadium in the city of El Espinal in Tolima state during a traditional event called “corraleja” in which members of the public enter the ring to engage the bulls.
Footage tweeted out by president-elect Gustavo Petro shows the wooden stands filled with spectators suddenly collapsing, trapping an unknown number under the rubble.
“I hope that all the people affected by the collapse of the plaza in El Espinal will be able to recover from their injuries,” reads the tweet, noting a similar incident occurred in the northern Colombian city of Sincelejo.
“I ask the mayor’s offices not to authorize any more spectacles with the death of people or animals.”
Espero que todas las personas afectadas por el derrumbe de la plaza de El Espinal puedan salir airosas de sus heridas.
Esto ya había sucedido antes en Sincelejo.
Le solicito a las alcaldías no autorizar más espectáculos con la muerte de personas o animales. pic.twitter.com/dMAq6uqlKX
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 26, 2022
Terrifying video emerging from Colombia tonight where a grandstand collapsed during a bullfight in El Espinal, with local reports of several deaths and possibly hundreds injured (from WRadioColombia) pic.twitter.com/Whn8Fz7ugn
— Manuel Bojorquez (@BojorquezCBS) June 26, 2022
The governor of the state of Tolima is quoted as saying two women, a man and a minor were killed while Tolima health secretary Martha Palacios said that 322 people had gone to local public and private hospitals. She added that the minor who had died was an 18-month-old baby and that another four people were in intensive care.
Mayor Juan Carlos Tamayo said 800 spectators were seated in the sections that collapsed.
Gov. Jose Ricardo Orozco told local media he had asked for the traditional “corralejas” to be suspended in Tolima earlier Sunday but this one was held anyway.
It’s unclear at this point what led to the collapse.
Current President Ivan Duque on Twitter announced an investigation into the collapse.
Files from The Associated Press were used in this report
