Colombia: Deaths after bullfighting arena collapse
In Colombia, people have been killed and injured after a bullfighting arena collapsed. The incident fuels the debate over a ban.
At least four people died when a makeshift bullfighting arena collapsed in the Colombian department of Tolima.
More than 250 people were injured. A bull that escaped afterwards caused panic in the town.
Videos on social media show how, on Sunday, the wooden stands filled with spectators collapsed on one side of the arena. According to reports, this was not a solid structure, but a stadium hastily constructed from wooden poles.
Hundreds of people were in the audience. According to a report by the newspaper «El Tiempo», an escaped bull spread panic through the streets of the city of El Espinal, about 150 kilometres southwest of the capital Bogotá.
New president wants to ban bullfighting
President Ivan Duque (45) announced an investigation on Twitter. His elected successor Gustavo Petro (62) wrote that he was asking local authorities across the country to stop approving events at which people or animals are killed.
He also recalled a similar tragedy: in 1980, an overcrowded stand collapsed at the bullfighting arena in Sincelejo, Colombia’s largest. At least 300 people died.
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