The casualties included two women, a man and an 18-month-old baby.

In a tragic turn of events at least four spectators including an 18-month-old baby were killed and about 70 seriously injured after a full three-storey section of wooden stands collapsed during a bullfighting festival on Sunday (26 June).

Around 800 spectators were seated in the sections that collapsed at the traditional event called ‘corraleja’ staged in the town of El Espinal, Colombia, provincial officials said.

The bull-running event was tied to the feast day of Saint Peter and Saint Paul and involved locals entering the ring to engage the bulls.

What happened?

Videos of the incident showed part of the stadium tipping forward into the ring. Some audience members fell from other parts of the stands after the portion caved in.

Another video showed people trying to escape from the stands while an unattended bull continued to roam in the arena.

“There are four dead at this moment – two women, a man and a minor,” Tolima provincial governor Jose Ricardo Orozco told a local radio channel.

While emergency crew and revellers tried to help those trapped under the rubble, the bull from the fight escaped the ring and fled the stadium causing panic on the streets of San Pedro.

Around 322 people visited local public and private hospitals after the collapse seeking treatment, local authorities informed. However, no one reported being attacked by the bull on the run.

Ban Corralejas

Around 322 people visited local public and private hospitals after the collapse seeking treatment, local authorities informed.

Outgoing President Ivan Duque called for an investigation about what happened in Sunday’s disaster.

“We lament the terrible tragedy registered in El Espinal, Tolima, during the festivals of San Pedro and San Juan, with the collapse of the stands during a corraleja,” he tweeted.

“We will call for an investigation.”

Meanwhile, Colombia’s new president Gustavo Petro urged local officials to ban these amateur bullfights after a similar mishap caused serious injuries to three people at an earlier event in Sincelejo.

Another person died earlier this month in the northern town of Repelon after being gored by a bull during a traditional spectacle.

Petro said on Twitter: “I hope that all the people affected by the collapse of the Plaza de El Espinal can come out of their wounds unscathed.

“This had already happened before in Sincelejo.

“I ask the mayors not to authorise more shows with the death of people or animals.”

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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