Colombian bullfight disaster: Four killed after wooden stands collapse

Videos taken during the bullfight show the wooden stands collapsing. Photo / Twitter, W Radio Colombia

Part of the wooden stands collapsed during a bullfight in central Colombia Sunday (local time), sending spectators plunging to the ground and killing at least four people and seriously injuring about 30, authorities said.

The disaster took place in a stadium in the city of El Espinal in Tolima state during a traditional event called "corraleja" in which members of the public enter the ring to engage the bulls.

Videos taken during the bullfight show a three-storey section of the stands collapsing as people screamed.

"We have activated the hospital network in Tolima," Tolima Governor José Ricardo Orozco told local Blu Radio. "Four people have died, as of this moment: two women, a man and a minor."

Authorities said about 30 people had been seriously injured.

Orozco said he had asked for the traditional "corralejas" to be suspended in Tolima earlier Sunday but this one was held anyway.

Videos taken during the bullfight show the wooden stands collapsing. Photo / Twitter, W Radio Colombia

President-elect Gustavo Petro urged local officials to ban such events, noting that it was not the first time an incident like this had taken place.

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

Current President Iván Duque announced an investigation of the disaster.

"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," he wrote on social media. "We will call for an investigation."