It was a temporary stand erected for a local celebration and the new president of the country claims “not to authorize more shows with the death of people or animals”
At least five people died and 500 more were injured this Sunday after an improvised grandstand collapsed in a bullring in the municipality of Espinal, in the Colombian department of Tolima, during some patron saint festivities. The moment of the collapse was recorded in a recording, which is circulating on some social networks, in which you can see the collapse of several stands that has caused serious injuries to the attendees.
At the moment there are no official figures, but the Colombian press reported at least five dead and half a thousand injured. Civil Defense of Tolima has indicated that among the injured there are children, women, men and older people who attended the event.
The bull from the bullfighting show escaped from the bullring and unleashed panic in the streets of Espinal, for which a yellow alert has been declared in the municipality to attend to the emergency, according to the newspaper ‘El Tiempo’.
Councilman Iván Ferney Rojas also warned that the local hospital is collapsed, as are the ambulance services. “We need support from neighboring ambulances and hospitals. There are many people still unattended », he warned. For his part, Major Luis Fernando Vélez, director of Civil Defense of Tolima, sent a group of rescuers who collaborate in the rescue work of those affected who were left under the stands.
political reactions
After the event, the elected president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has asked the country’s mayors “not to authorize more shows with the death of people or animals.” «I hope that all the people affected by the collapse of the Plaza de El Espinal can get out of their wounds. This had already happened before in Sincelejo », he pointed out on Twitter.
The outgoing president, Iván Duque, has also referred to the “terrible” collapse and has promised “an investigation of the facts.” The still president of the country is on an official visit to Portugal.
For her part, the outgoing vice president and chancellor, Marta Lucía Ramírez, regretted what happened and referred to the lack of security in the assembly of these corralejas. “Who does maintenance verification? Who reviews security conditions? These events must end. How many lives lost over and over again with no one to answer? », She planted her.
#dead #injured #part #bullring #Colombia #collapses