Five dead and 500 injured when part of a bullring collapses in Colombia

It was a temporary grandstand set up for a local celebration and the country’s new president claims “not to authorize more shows depicting the death of people or animals”

This Sunday, at least five people were killed and another 500 injured after a makeshift grandstand collapsed in an arena in the municipality of Espinal, in the Colombian department of Tolima, during some festivities with patron saints. The moment of the collapse was captured in a recording, circulating on some social networks, where you can see the collapse of several stands that caused serious injuries to those present.

There are currently no official figures, but the Colombian press reported at least five dead and half a thousand injured. Tolima Civil Defense has indicated that among the injured are children, women, men and the elderly who attended the event.

The bull from the bullfighting show escaped from the bullring and unleashed panic in the streets of Espinal, where a yellow alert has been issued in the municipality to combat the emergency, according to the newspaper ‘El Tiempo’.

Councilor Iván Ferney Rojas also warned that the local hospital has collapsed, as have the ambulance services. “We need support from neighboring ambulances and hospitals. There are still many people unattended,” he warned. Major Luis Fernando Vélez, director of the civil defense of Tolima, in turn sent a group of rescuers to help rescue those affected who were left under the stands.

After the event, Colombia’s elected president, Gustavo Petro, asked the country’s mayors “not to authorize more shows depicting the death of people or animals.” “I hope that all the people affected by the collapse of the Plaza de El Espinal can come out of their wounds. This had happened before in Sincelejo,” he said on Twitter.

The outgoing president, Iván Duque, has also referred to the “terrible” collapse and has promised “an investigation into the facts”. The still president of the country is on an official visit to Portugal.

For its part, the outgoing Vice-President and Chancellor, Marta Lucía Ramírez, regretted what happened and referred to the lack of security in the meeting of these corralejas. “Who does the maintenance verification? Who assesses the security conditions? These events must end. How many lives lost again and again without an answer?

Source: La Verdad

Michael

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