Hundreds wounded following collapse of platform at Spanish festival

Hundreds of people have been injured, five seriously, during a festival in Spain when a section of a wooden platform packed with people collapsed into the sea, according to media reports.

The incident happened on Sunday night as people on the seafront platform were watching an artist perform during the urban sports and music festival in the city of Vigo in Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia.

“At the moment 266 patients have been treated, the vast majority are light injuries for bruises. There are five hospitalizations, mainly broken bones and some head injuries,” said Jesus Vazquez Almuina, Galicia’s regional health minister.

Emergency teams were immediately dispatched to attend to the wounded, and divers went into the sea to see if anyone was trapped under the huge wooden structure.

According to Abel Caballero, the mayor of Vigo, the collapsed platform was 30 meters long and 10 meters wide.

Faro de Vigo, a local newspaper, says the platform collapsed after the singer asked the crowd to jump during the first song of the concert.

SS