The president of Mexico confirmed Wednesday that a stage collapse at a political campaign rally killed four people and injured at least 15.
The collapse was caused by an incredibly strong gust of wind that wrought havoc during an event in Northern Mexico that was attended by, among others, long-shot presidential candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez, who also went flying.
Current Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he is sending ‘a hug to family members, friends of the victims and political supporters.’
Horrifying videos of the collapse populated social media on Wednesday night.
Vides on social media show the moment the stage collapsed into the large crowd on Wednesday night
They showed the terrified crowd screaming and attempting to run away from the collapsing stage infrastructure.
Other videos showed people attempting to climb out from under the metal polls that had fallen onto the large crowd.
On his social media accounts, Máynez posted that he had been taken to a nearby hospital following the accident at the campaign rally.
He said that he was okay, but that there had been ‘victims’ of the crash.
The rally was taking place in the affluent suburb of San Pedro Garza Garcia, outside the city of Monterrey.
‘The only important thing at this point is to care for the victims of the accident,’ he wrote.
Videos appear to show Máynez waving at the crowd as they chant his name before realizing that a giant screen is about to topple onto him.
He quickly dashes toward the back of the stage in an effort to avoid being crushed by the falling structure.
The governor of the northern border state of Nuevo Leon, who is a primary proponent of Máynez’s Citizens Movement party said in a video address that people had been injured.
The mayor of San Pedro Garza Garcia, Miguel Treviño, confirmed that people were reportedly ‘trapped and injured.’
‘My prayers are with the victims,’ he added.
Security forces stand around a stage that collapsed due to a gust of wind during a political rally in northern Mexico on Wednesday night
A Mexican Red Cross rescuer checks a girl at the site after a gust of wind caused a structure to collapse at a campaign rally
Citizens’ Movement party president Jorge Alvarez Maynez reacts at the site after a gust of wind caused a structure to collapse, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries, at a campaign event for the Citizens’ Movement party, in San Pedro Garza Garcia
Events like the one that was disrupted tonight are being held across the country this week ahead of the anticipated June 2 presidential election, which will also include state and municipal elections
Events like the one that was disrupted tonight are being held across the country this week ahead of the anticipated June 2 presidential election, which will also include state and municipal elections.
The lead up to the election has included a significant amount of political violence – including the murders of about two dozen candidates for various local offices.
The stage collapse is, however, the first accident of its kind to plague the campaign trail.
Álvarez Máynez has been polling behind the two frontrunners in the presidential race.
The favored candidate ahead of the forthcoming election is Claudia Sheinbaum of the ruling Morerna Part, and behind her is is opposition coalition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez.
