Collapse of bullfight stands in Colombia leaves 4 dead, dozens wounded

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At least four are dead and dozens more injured in Colombia after spectator stands at a bullfight collapsed, local media reported on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the bull reportedly escaped from the plaza hosting the spectacle and is causing panic in the streets of Espinal, Tolima, a city of nearly 60,000 people about 90 miles south-west of Bogot?, the South American nation’s capital.

According to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, video cameras captured the moment that the wood and bamboo stands collapsed, killing some and leaving more with fractures and other injuries.

Initial reports were that at least four people had died and more than 60 wounded, though authorities didn’t immediately release exact numbers, El Tiempo reported.

The injured included children, women and men, said the newspaper, citing information from municipal authorities. Authorities didn’t immediately say what caused the collapse.

The bullfight was part of a cultural festival honoring Saints Peter and Paul, who were apostles of Jesus Christ and Christian martyrs. A city councilmember Ivan Ferney Rojas issued a statement saying the local hospital had been overrun and asking for assistance from surrounding areas to treat the injured.

“We need help from neighboring hospitals and ambulances,” the politician’s statement said. “There’s still a lot of people who haven’t been treated.”

Espinal’s City Hall added in a separate statement that the staff there “profoundly lamented what had happened at the bullfight plaza” but urged residents and visitors to remain calm.

Colombia’s president-elect, Gustavo Petro, said on Twitter that a similar collapse had happened in another part of the county before. Petro, a former member of an urban guerilla group and Colombia’s first leftist to be elected president, also said he urged local governments “to not authorize any more spectacles involving the deaths of people or animals”.