Stage collapses at rally of Mexican presidential candidate, 9 dead

Mexico City:

At least nine people, including a child, died after strong gusts of wind caused a stage to collapse during a campaign rally in northern Mexico on Wednesday, authorities said.

At least 50 other people were injured in the accident, some seriously, according to the governor of Nuevo León, Samuel Garcia.

Local media footage of the accident showed a chaotic scene as the crowd fled from the collapsing stage while the lights and a giant screen crashed into the area where veteran presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Maynez and members of his Citizens’ Movement party were standing.

“I regret to report that the number of people killed in the accident so far is eight adults and one minor,” Governor Garcia wrote on the social media platform X.

“San Pedro Garza Garcia”:
Because it established the scenario in which the electoral event of Lorenia Canavati, candidate for the constituency of San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, ended, where she met Jorge Álvarez Máynez. pic.twitter.com/czzAP0ZmdV

— What’s the trend? (@porktendencia) May 23, 2024

In an interview with the press from the scene of the accident in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia, he described the accident as “a tragedy.”

Maynez, who escaped without serious injuries, said the stage collapsed due to a strong gust of wind.

“I am fine and am in contact with the authorities regarding the incident,” the 38-year-old wrote on X, adding that caring for the victims was a priority.

Medical teams were seen loading bodies into trucks while soldiers ran across a field littered with rubble and scattered campaign posters.

The event was a campaign rally to mark the conclusion of the Citizens’ Movement’s campaign candidate for mayor of San Pedro Garza Garcia, Lorenia Canavati.

Senatorial candidates and lawmakers from the party also participated.

Maynez, who has canceled upcoming campaign events, said he would remain on site until the last injured person was taken to the hospital.

Some members of his team were being treated in hospital, he said, without specifying their injuries.

“Pure panic”

Jose Juan, who attended the rally, recounted how the structure collapsed on the candidate and their supporters.

“It hit me in the head and I fainted. The rest was pure hysteria, pure panic,” he told broadcaster Televisa.

The Mexican weather service had previously warned of heavy rains, wind gusts of up to 70 kilometers per hour and possible tornadoes in Nuevo Leon and other northern states.

Governor Garcia urged people not to go outside because of the storms.

In a post on social media, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the victims.

The other two presidential candidates also expressed their solidarity with those affected.

Lead candidate Claudia Sheinbaum canceled a rally planned for Thursday in Monterrey and expressed her “solidarity with the families and friends of the victims.”

The opposition’s main presidential candidate, Xochitl Galvez, expressed his “condolences and prayers” to the families of those killed and “wished a speedy recovery to all those injured.”

On June 2, Mexicans will vote for a new president, as well as members of Congress, several state governors and local officials.

According to the polls, Maynez is trailing both Sheinbaum and Galvez and is a distant third in the vote.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)