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Colombia: 18-month-old baby among four dead as stand collapses at bullfight

Colombia: 18-month-old baby among four dead as stand collapses at bullfight

An 18-month-old baby is among the four dead after wooden stands partially collapsed at a bullfight in central Colombia on Sunday.

There were two women and a man also among the dead at a stadium in the city of El Espinal in Tolima state where people were watching the traditional bullfighting event.

Footage from the bullfight showed a section of the stands collapsing while people were screaming.

Aerial view of the collapsed grandstand in a bullring in the Colombian municipality of El Espinal (AFP via Getty Images)
Aerial view of the collapsed grandstand in a bullring in the Colombian municipality of El Espinal (AFP via Getty Images)

Mayor Juan Carlos Tamayo said 800 spectators were seated in the sections that collapsed.

Among the hundreds injured, four people were in intensive care and two others were recovering from surgery.

Tolima health secretary Martha Palacios said 322 people went to local public and private hospitals seeking treatment after the collapse in a press conference.

Palacio said the minor who had died was an 18-month-old baby.

Ambulances were sent from the nearby cities of Ibague and Melgar to help the injured who have overwhelmed El Espinal's hospital, director of civil defense in the province Major Luis Fernando Velez said.

No one remained trapped in the wreckage, he added.

“We have activated the hospital network in Tolima,” governor Jose Ricardo Orozco told local Blu Radio.

“Four people have died, as of this moment: Two women, a man and a minor.”

Current President Ivan Duque said there would be an investigation into the “terrible tragedy”.

“We lament the terrible tragedy registered in El Espinal, Tolima, during the festivals of San Pedro and San Juan, with the collapse of the stands during a corraleja. We will call for an investigation,” he said.

President-elect Gustavo Petro urged local officials to ban such events.

“I ask mayors not to allow more events involving the death of people or animals,” he said.