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2022 Colombia stadium collapse
Structural collapse in Tolima, Colombia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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On 26 June 2022, a stadium collapsed in El Espinal, Tolima Department, Colombia during a bullfight.[1]
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]
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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 takes his minor children to the events and that they are "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]
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See also
References
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