2022 Colombia stadium collapse

Last updated

2022 Colombia stadium collapse
Date26 June 2022
Location El Espinal, Tolima, Colombia
Type Structural collapse
Deaths6
Non-fatal injuries30

On 26 June 2022, a stadium collapsed in El Espinal, Tolima Department, Colombia during a bullfight. [1]

Contents

Background

The stadium was hosting a corraleja, which is a bullfighting tradition popular in Columbia. There are no bullfighters in a corraleja – spectators are allowed to enter the ring and engage the bull. On 20 January 1980 during a corraleja, several stands collapsed, killing more than 500 spectators. [2]

Collapse

The collapse occurred at the three-story wooden stand section filled with audience members. [3] There were 800 people sitting in the collapsed section before the accident happened. [4] The stands were overcrowded because there had been no corraleja the prior year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] The stands were built with thin wooden boards and tied together with rope. [6] A bull that was part of the show escaped the ring and caused mayhem in El Espinal, and was later captured. [7]

Victims

A total of six people were killed and another 322 people were treated at local public and private hospitals. [8] [9] Of the initial four fatalities reported, two of them were women (Blanca Sandoval and Rocío Botto), one man (Fidel Hernández), and one 14 month old baby. [10] Fabio Buitrago, a witness to the collapse, said that he saw "many people crushed under the rubble" of the stands. [11] 14 of the injured were pregnant women and 27 were children. Most of the injured were taken to the San Rafael Hospital in El Espinal. [7]

Investigation

According to Yerson Hernán Oliveros Calderón, one of the organizers of the event, the government of the Tolima Department did not authorize the use of the guadua that they had used in the construction of the stands, so the organizers had to import it from Armenia. [12]

Responses

President Iván Duque expressed his solidarity to all of the victims' families and ordered an investigation to the incident. [13] President-elect Gustavo Petro urged a ban on such events, citing that it was not the first time it happened. [9] The Mayor's Office of El Espinal expressed regret for the collapse. [14] The mayor of El Espinal, Juan Carlos Tamayo, claimed that the tragedy was unforeseeable since officials had done all due diligence in inspecting the premises. He also defended the participation of children in the corralejas, stating that he himself taking his minor children to the events and that it was "tradition". He said that engineers employed by the city would be sent to investigate the cause of the collapse. [15]

The mayor of Cali, Jorge Iván Ospina, said that he will ban corralejas and other blood sports involving animals, citing animal rights concerns and safety issues, specifically the collapse in El Espinal. [16]

A three-day period of mourning was declared in El Espinal, and cavalcades and corralejas previously scheduled for four days during the mourning period were canceled. [17]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Pozzebon, Stefano (27 June 2022). "At least 4 dead, hundreds injured after collapse at stadium in Colombia". CNN. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  2. ↑ "Tragedia en El Espinal: ¿qué son las corralejas y por qué son tan populares en Colombia?" [Tragedy in El Espinal: What are the corralejas and why are they so popular in Colombia?]. BBC News (in Spanish). 27 June 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  3. ↑ "Colombian bullfighting stadium stand collapses, killing four". ABC News. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Alund, Natalie Neysa (27 June 2022). "At least four dead, hundreds hurt when wooden stands collapse during Colombian bullfight". USA Today. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  5. ↑ Arenas, Fabio (22 June 2022). "El duro relato de un sobreviviente a la tragedia en corraleja de El Espinal" [The difficult story of a survivor of the correleja tragedy in El Espinal]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  6. ↑ Cuellar Pinilla, Maria Fernanda (28 June 2022). "Tragedia en El Espinal: así estaban amarrados los palcos de la corraleja" [Tragedy in El Espinal: this is how the stands of the corraleja were tied]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Tragedia en El Espinal: al menos 4 muertos y más de 300 heridos tras el colapso de una gradería en una corrida de toros en Colombia" [Tragedy in El Espinal: at least 4 dead and more than 300 injured after the collapse of a stand in a bullfight in Colombia]. BBC News (in Spanish). 26 June 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  8. ↑ Castano, Aicha El Hammar (27 June 2022). "Colombia stadium collapse: At least 6 dead, 200 injured after stands crumble during bullfight". ABC 7 News. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Four killed after stand collapses during Colombia bullfight". Aljazeera. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  10. ↑ "Un menor de 14 meses entre las víctimas de corralejas de El Espinal" [A child under of months is among the victims of the corralejas in El Espinal]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 26 June 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  11. ↑ ""¡Dios mío, ayúdanos, esta plaza nos va a matar!": el dramático relato sobre tragedia en El Espinal" ["My God, help us, this bullring will kill us!": the dramatic story of the tragedy in El Espinal]. El Colombiano (in Spanish). 27 June 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "La historia no contada detrás de la tragedia en la corraleja de El Espinal" [The untold story behind the tragedy of the corraleja in El Espinal]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  13. ↑ "Colombia Stadium Collapse Kills 4". Voice of America. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  14. ↑ Arenas, Fabio (26 June 2022). "Tragedia en Tolima: 4 muertos y decenas de heridos en derrumbe en corraleja" [Tragedy in Tolima: 4 dead and dozens wounded in a collapse during a corraleja]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  15. ↑ Arenas, Fabio (27 June 2022). "'La asistencia de niños a la corraleja es tradición': alcalde de El Espinal" ['The assistance of children in the corraleja is tradition': mayor of El Espinal]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  16. ↑ "Erradicar toda fiesta donde hay maltrato animal es lo ético: alcalde de Cali tras tragedia en Tolima" [Eradicate any party where animal abuse is ethical: mayor of Cali after tragedy in Tolima]. Blu Radio (in Spanish). 27 June 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  17. ↑ "Tres días de duelo en El Espinal, Tolima, por tragedia en plaza de toros" [Three days of mourning in El Espinal, Tolima, for the tragedy in the bullfighting ring]. Blu Radio (in Spanish). 27 June 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2025.

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