Nine Dead as Stage Collapses at Mexico Election Rally

AFP/APP

Mexico City: An #election rally in northern Mexico turned tragic on Wednesday night when a gust of wind sent the stage crashing into the crowd, killing at least nine people, including a child, according to authorities. Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia reported that at least 50 other people were injured, some seriously.

Footage of the incident revealed a chaotic scene as people screamed and tried to escape the collapsing structure while lights and a giant screen toppled onto the area where presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Maynez and members of his Citizens’ Movement party were standing.

“I regret to report that so far the number of people killed in the accident stands at eight adults and one minor,” Governor Garcia wrote on social media platform X, adding that at least three people were undergoing surgery. He described the accident as “a tragedy” while speaking to the press at the scene in the town of San Pedro Garza Garcia.

Presidential candidate Maynez, who escaped without serious injury, said the stage collapsed after a strong gust of wind. “I am fine and in communication with the authorities” over what happened, the 38-year-old wrote on X, adding that the priority was to take care of the victims.

Medical teams transported bodies on orange stretchers into waiting vans as soldiers roamed a field littered with debris and muddied campaign posters. Rally attendee Jose Juan recounted the incident: “It hit me on the head and I fainted. The rest was pure hysteria, pure panic,” he told broadcaster Televisa.

Citizen’s Movement member Javier Gonzalez-Alcantara told Televisa that first responders had to pull people trapped underneath the collapsed pavilion. “All the people who were under the stage were rescued and the injured were taken to the hospitals,” he said.

Mexico’s meteorological service had warned of heavy rain, wind gusts of up to 70 kilometers (43 miles) per hour, and possible tornadoes in Nuevo Leon and other northern states on Wednesday night. Governor Garcia urged people to avoid going outside because of the storms.