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CatastropheColombia

4 killed in Colombia bullfight stand collapse

June 26, 2022

Around 800 spectators were seated in the sections that collapsed, according to authorities in the city of El Espinal. An 18-month-old baby was among those who died.

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People gather near the rubble of a grandstand that collapsed in a bullring during the celebrations of the San Pedro festivities, in El Espinal, Colombia
Four people died after a three-story wooden stand at a bullfighting ring collapsedImage: Cristian Parra/REUTERS

Four people were killed and hundreds were injured after a stand collapsed during a bullfight in Colombia, local authorities said Sunday.

The bullfight had been taking place in the municipality of El Espinal in the central Colombian district of Tolima and the regional health secretary Martha Palacios said an 18-month-old baby was among those who died.

What happened at the ring?

A three-story section of wooden stands filled with spectators collapsed, throwing dozens of people to the ground.

"Four people are among the dead at the present moment. Two women, one man and one minor," Tolima governor Jose Ricardo Orozco told Blu Radio.

"Around 30 people have been seriously injured... this is a preliminary report, injured people are still being transferred," the governor added.

Orozco said the regional government would move to ban "corralejas," where local residents engage in amateur bullfighting.

Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported that the bull from the fight had escaped the ring and that a state of alert had been declared in the municipality.

Local hospital overwhelmed

City council member Ivan Ferney Rojas warned that the town's hospital and ambulance services were severely under pressure.

"We need support from neighboring hospitals and ambulances. Many people are yet to receive care," he said.

Provincial civil defense director Luis Fernando Velez told the local Caracol broadcaster that no-one remained trapped in the wreckage. Several people reported as missing have been found, he said.

Velez added that ambulances had been sent from the nearby cities of Ibague and Melgar to help the injured, with El Espinal's hospital becoming overwhelmed.

While around 30 people were initially reported seriously injured, late Sunday Tolima health secretary Martha Palacios that 322 people had gone to local public and private hospitals after the collapse seeking treatment.

sdi/jsi (AFP, EFE, Reuters, dpa)