Agencies-Gaza post
Spain festival stage collapse kills one, wounds dozens
One man was killed and tens were wounded when high winds forced part of the main stage to destroy at a dance music festival near the Spanish city of Valencia in the early hours of Saturday, regional emergency services stated.
Another infrastructure was also destroyed when gusts battered the Medusa Festival, a huge electronic music festival held over six days in the east coast town of Cullera, south of Valencia.
The festival, where French DJ David Guetta was due to play on Saturday, had DJs designed to play throughout the night on Friday across five locations.
Of the wounded, three suffered serious trauma wounds and 14 had more minor injuries, regional emergency services tweeted. Provincial health authorities said later that 40 people were listened to.
“We are completely devastated and saddened at what happened this morning,” organizers stated in a report on the festival’s Facebook page.
They reported, that “extraordinary” weather circumstances caused damage to various infrastructures on the festival site.
“At around four in the morning unexpected and violent strong winds destroyed certain areas of the festival, forcing management to make the immediate decision to vacate the concert area to guarantee the safety of attendees, workers, and artists,” organizers added.
The festival was stopped for the time being, they reported.
DJ Miguel Serna was on the main set for his 3 a.m. to 4 a.m set when the incident happened.
“It was a tense few minutes, I’ve never experienced anything like it before,” he wrote in an Instagram story on Saturday.
“The tragedy happened just at the end of my session on the main stage, just below it, which was the most affected (area). It was a few points of horror, I am still in shock.”
National broadcaster TVE displayed photos of strong blasts of wind battering against people’s tents in the middle of the night.
“We are in a state of shock because we were 30 meters away (from the stage). It could have been me, it could have been anyone,” Jesus Carretero, who was at the festival with his brother, announced TVE.
National weather agency AEMET reported there had been “strong blows of wind and a sudden rise in temperatures” during the night, with gusts of 82 kph (51 mph) registered at Alicante airport in the Valencia region.
