MADRID — The incident
occurred shortly after 02:00 GMT at the Medusa Circus of Madness dance
music festival on Cullera beach, some 50km south of Valencia.
اضافة اعلان
“At 4:18 am, part
of the stage at Medusa Festival collapsed in Cullera due to a strong gust of
wind,” the 112 emergency services said on Twitter.
“One person died
and three were seriously hurt with multiple injuries,” it said, indicating 14
others sustained light injuries. The health authorities later raised the toll
to 40 injured.
Media reports said
a young man in his early 20s died after being hit by parts of the stage as it
collapsed at the event which had been expected to draw some 320,000 festival
goers.
They also said some
of the large structures making up the festival entrance also blew down.
Footage on social media showed powerful winds
sweeping through the venue, trees and large structures bending dangerously, and
debris flying everywhere as people fought to hold onto their tents and salvage
their belongings.
Spain’s AEMET
weather service said the Valencian coast had been hit overnight by various
“warm downbursts”, a weather event in which a powerful downward current of air
hits land then spreads out in all directions.
“We are completely
devastated and appalled by what happened last night,” the festival management
said in a statement on social media, conveying condolences to the victims and
their family and friends.
It said an
“unexpected and violent gale” had ravaged certain areas of the festival just
after 4am, forcing the management “to immediately evacuate the concert area to
ensure the safety of the festival goers, staff and artists”.
Valencia’s regional leader Ximo Puig wrote on Twitter it was
“a terrible accident that has shocked us all”, offering his “deepest
condolences to the family and friends of the young man who died”.
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