Election stage collapse kills nine

A stage collapsed at a Mexican election campaign rally late on Wednesday night, killing nine people and injuring dozens as high winds tore apart the large, concert-style structure, scattering politicians and attendees.

About 78 people were hospitalised after the rally for the Citizens’ Movement party in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, Samuel Garcia, the state’s governor, said.

The victims were eight adults and one child, Garcia said, adding he was headed to a hospital where three people were in surgery.

Many of the injured were being treated at local clinics, the director of Mexico’s social security institute reported.

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 politicians and panicked attendees running for cover.

Alvarez Maynez, who returned to the scene of the accident after being cleared at a local hospital, said he was suspending campaign activities and that he hoped authorities investigate what occurred.

Maynez’s campaign co-ordinator Laura Ballesteros was hospitalised with a broken foot, and mayoral candidate for San Pedro Garza Garcia, Lorenia Canavati, said that she was coordinating with authorities to support those impacted and their families.

Members of Mexico’s national guard and army were on the scene.

Cape Times