“Right now, we have four confirmed (dead) victims – two women, an adult man and a minor – plus about 30 seriously injured people. Of course, we have activated all the hospitals and ambulances we can work with.” Governor Ricardo Orozco told BluRadio Colombia, a local radio station.
The video released by Colombian President-elect Gustavo Petro shows a grandstand full of spectators collapsing as people run from the area. The mayor of Espinal, Juan Carlos Tamayo, confirmed the accident on Sunday in a post on Facebook, asking citizens to evacuate the area.
“We deeply regret what happened on our bullfighting track,” Tamayo said in the statement. “I want to ask all the citizens in the area to please evacuate, the authorities are already responding to the emergency and the injured have been taken to hospitals. Please evacuate, help among all emergency services to do their job. ”
Colombia’s civil defense agency, Colombian Civil Defense, said on Twitter that volunteers had transported the injured victims to medical facilities in the area.
He posted photos showing people in bunks in the hallways and courtyards.
Local councilor Iván Ferney Rojas posted a video on Twitter showing the collapse. Shouts can be heard in the background of the footage as the three-level structure falls inwards.
The video shows the stand seemingly crowded as it crashes. Others on the ground run as the structure falls towards them.
No official cause of the collapse has been given, but Tamayo said in his statement that authorities “have already begun investigating the causes of what happened.”
CNN’s Susannah Cullinane contributed to this report.