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BOGOTA, Colombia – Several floors of grandstands in a makeshift arena collapse during the bullfight in central Colombia on Sunday, leaving at least five people were killed and dozens injured – figures that could increase in the hours that followed, as the terrified spectators were trapped in the rubble.
The tragedy took place in El Espinal, a small town about 95 miles southwest of Bogota.
Footage of the collapse quickly spread on social media. Showed dozens of people getting annoyed and playing with an early bull during a popular event known as corraleja. Suddenly, three levels of the stands gave way, catching hundreds of men, women and children below. As people shouted, some jumped out of their seats and rushed to help, trying to lift wood and other debris aside.
Hector Ortiz, 64, could not believe the scene. A woman next to him shouted, “This balcony is about to fall!” he watched the tribunes, which began to collapse one after the other, like dominoes.
“After the first balcony collapsed, he pulled the next one and so on and so forth. The gate through which the bulls pass stopped the collapse. “Otherwise, we would be talking about a much bigger tragedy,” Ortiz told The Washington Post.
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Every year, the town hall and private parties in El Espinal organize events to celebrate St. Peter’s Day on June 29. The bullring was built for a spectacle that originated on the Caribbean coast when Colombia was a Spanish colony. Unlike the traditional Spanish bullfight, bulls are not usually killed in the coral,, and spectators are invited to run around with the animal still in the ring.
In cities like El Espinal, the event has become a popular show.
The bullring was built of bamboo gadua, and its many levels were full of spectators. “The structure of gadua bamboo is quite unstable,” said Luis Fernando Veles, head of the regional civil protection agency. “The organizers had to anticipate that this could happen.
Veles said 50 civil protection volunteers are working to transfer more than 70 injured spectators from a bullring to the city’s only hospital. Firefighters and police also helped. The local health system sent a “red signal” to the community.
On Twitter, Colombian President Ivan Duque expressed concern for the victims and called for an immediate investigation.
Among the missing are children who were with their parents in a bullring when the structure receded, Veles said.
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The incident recalled a similar one corralejas disaster in the Caribbean city of Sinselho. More than 500 people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured in 1980, when makeshift stands collapsed.
“This has happened before in Sinselho,” tweeted newly elected President Gustavo Petro, who will take office in August. “I ask local authorities to refrain from allowing more spectacles with the death of people or animals.
Peter caused outrage as mayor of Bogotá when he banned bullfighting. On Sunday, he seemed ready to fight the same battle nationally.
After witnessing the disaster on Sunday, Ortiz said: “I think this is the end of the corralejas at El Espinal. ”
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