At least nine people have been killed, including a child, and 50 more have been injured after a stage collapsed at an election campaign rally in Mexico's northern Nuevo León state, the local governor has said, Report informs referring to BBC.
The incident occurred as center-left presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Maynez was delivering a speech in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia, near Monterrey.
Mr Maynez was uninjured in the collapse and was seen speaking to supporters following the incident. Several members of his team had been hurt, he said.
The collapse was caused by a sudden gust of wind, Mr Maynez said in a post on X.
Footage has emerged apparently showing the moment the lighting structure collapsed as a number of people were on the stage.
Video posted on social media showed Mr Maynez waving to his supporters and then running for safety as part of the structure toppled over.
At least five people died on Wednesday evening in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon after a stage collapsed at a campaign event for the Citizens' Movement party, authorities said.
Report informs via Reuters that around 50 people were injured, Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia said on social media, while the director of Mexico's social security institute reported that dozens were being treated at local clinics.
Garcia said five people died in the accident. Local mayor Miguel Trevino, however, said six people had been reported killed.
Jorge Alvarez Maynez, the presidential candidate for the centrist Citizens' Movement party, said a gust of wind caused the stage to collapse at the event in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia, a wealthy enclave near the industrial hub of Monterrey.
Video of the accident showed the structure suddenly falling forward into the crowd, sending the politicians on stage running for cover and panicked attendees scattering.
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Four people have been killed after a structure collapsed at a campaign event for Mexican presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Máynez, the country’s president has said, Report informs referring to The Guardian.
Writing on X, president Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that a gust of wind caused the accident in the city of San Pedro Garza García in northern Mexico. Citing comments from the local governor, Obrador confirmed that four people were dead and 15 injured.
Máynez briefly went to the hospital, he said on X, after part of the stage he was addressing supporters from collapsed.
“I am fine and in communication with state authorities to follow up on what happened. The only important thing right now is to care for the victims of the accident”, Máynez said.
Video of the accident posted on social media showed Máynez waving his arms as the crowd chanted his name, before looking up to see a giant screen and metal structure toppling toward him. The presidential candidate is then seen running for safety as part of the stage toppled over at the rally.
Miguel Treviño, the mayor of San Pedro Garza Garcia, wrote on social media that “there are people reported trapped and injured. My prayers are with the victims.”
Máynez, a 38-year-old ex-state legislator from the centrist Citizen Movement party is running a distant third, less than two weeks before voters go to the polls on 2 June.
Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and Xochitl Galvez are the two leading candidates. On Wednesday evening, Sheinbaum tweeted to say that she hoped “everything is well with the candidates and attendees” at the campaign event.