Four people including 18 month old baby killed and over 500 injured as stadium collapses during bullfight in Columbia

Not less than four people were killed and more than 500 injured when a stadium partially collapsed during a bullfight in  Colombia.

It is reported that an 18-month old baby is among the deceased in the collapsed.

On Sunday June 26, at a stadium in the city of El Espinal in Tolima state the disaster took place during a traditional event called ‘corraleja’ in which members of the public enter the ring to fight the bulls.

Videos taken during the bullfight show a multi-story section of the wooden stands collapsing and falling into the arena as people screamed.

Another video taken at the scene showed people trying to escape from the stands while a bull continues to roam in the arena.
The number of people buried in the debris of the stands is currently unknown but the section of the stadium which collapsed is thought to have been full with 800 spectators.

Governor Jose Ricardo Orozco told a local radio station Tolima’s hospital network had been activated following the tragedy.

‘Four people have died, as of this moment: Two women, a man and a minor,’ he said.
Orozco said he had asked for the traditional ‘corralejas’ to be suspended in Tolima earlier on Sunday but this one was held anyway.
Besides the four dead, another four are in intensive care while two others are recovering from surgery.

President-elect Gustavo Petro urged local officials to ban ‘corralejas’, noting that it was not the first time an incident like this had taken place.

‘I ask mayors not to allow more events involving the death of people or animals,’ he said.
 

President Ivan Duque on Twitter announced an investigation of the 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.