Festival stage collapse in Spain kills one, injures dozens

Festival stage collapse in Spain kills one, injures dozens
August 13, 2022, 4:50 pm

Madrid, the capital city of Spain (Photo: Pixabay)

Part of a stage collapsed in strong winds at a music festival in Spain on Saturday (August 13), killing one person and injuring dozens more, the Euronews reported.

Emergency services from the Valencia region rushed to the scene, after a “strong gust of wind” knocked off parts of the Medusa Festival stage structure at around 4 a.m. local time.

Some 40 people were taken to the hospital, including three with serious injuries.

Organisers of the six-day dance event said they had ordered the concert grounds cleared when the wind intensified.

"We are completely devastated and saddened at what happened this morning," organisers said in a statement on the festival's Facebook page.

Valencia’s regional president, Ximo Puig, wrote on Twitter that he was "stunned" by the incident.

DJ Miguel Serna was performing on the main stage when the incident occurred.

Una locura lo del @Medusa_festival , infraestructuras cayéndose por culpa del viento que han herido a gente… pic.twitter.com/tWSIUtM8TD
— Fran Ciriza (@fran_ciriza) August 13, 2022

"It was a tense few minutes, I've never experienced anything like it before," he wrote in an Instagram story on Saturday.

"The tragedy happened just at the end of my session on the main stage, just below it ... it was a few moments of horror, I am still in shock."

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Images circulated online show strong winds sweeping through crowds of revellers at the outdoor festival, where French DJ David Guetta was due to play on Saturday.

Spain's National weather agency AEMET said strong gusts of wind during the night reached 82 kilometres per hour at Alicante airport in the Valencia region.

Other infrastructure at the five-stage festival was also battered by the fierce winds, which organisers said were "extraordinary".

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"At around four in the morning unexpected and violent strong winds destroyed certain areas of the festival, forcing management to make the immediate decision to vacate the concert area to guarantee the safety of attendees, workers and artists," they said.

The festival was suspended for the time being, according to organisers.

Source: euronews

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