MADRID: Panic erupted at a packed seaside music festival in northwest Spain when part of a wooden promenade suddenly collapsed, injuring more than 300 people, nine of them seriously, officials said Monday.
The seafront platform, measuring 30 meters by 10 meters (100 foot by 30 foot), was jammed with people watching a rap artist in the city of Vigo when part of it collapsed just before midnight on Sunday, mayor Abel Caballero told reporters.
Rescuers armed with an infrared camera combed the site for three hours to ensure no one remained trapped underneath while divers searched offshore, he said.
“Police got the people out of the area very quickly. There were two people who got trapped by debris, firefighters had to remove them and it was not easy to get them out,” Caballero told Spanish public television TVE.
The president of Vigo’s Port Authority said he thought the structure, built in the 1990s, collapsed due to “excess weight, to overcapacity.”
“That is what seems the most likely cause,” he told TVE but added: “We are going to order an expert study to see what may have happened,.”
Local daily El Faro de Vigo said the structure collapsed shortly after Spanish rap artist Rels B told the crowd to jump at the start of his concert.
“The floor gave way beneath us as if we were in an elevator. It was a question of five seconds,” concert-goer Aitana Alonso told the newspaper.
“The platform broke and we all fell. People landed on top of me. I tried to get out and couldn’t. My foot ended up stuck in the water but I managed to free it before a guy gave me his hand and pulled me out,” she said.
“There were people underneath me, shouting that they couldn’t get out.”
A total of 316 people were injured, including nine seriously, the regional government of Galicia said in a statement.
An earlier estimate had put the number at 266.
Most suffered light injuries, mainly bruises.
Those seriously wounded, including two minors, had broken bones or head injuries but their lives were not at risk, Galicia’s regional health minister Jesus Vazquez Almuina told Spanish public radio.
“It was the worst moment of my life,” said Andres, a young man who was in the VIP area, telling El Faro de Vigo he saw “people crying, others running.”
In a Twitter message, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his “solidarity with the injured,” wishing them a prompt recovery.
The head of regional government of Galicia, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, said it was “chilling to see how that entire area collapsed.”
“The injured, their families, need an explanation,” he told journalists during a visit to a Vigo hospital which treated victims of the accident.
The concert was part of Vigo’s three-day O Marisquino festival, which combines music with competitive sporting events, like skateboarding and mountain biking.
The annual festival, which bills itself as the “most important urban sports event in southern Europe,” draws some 160,000 people to Vigo, a city of around 300,000 residents.
Festival organizers said they “profoundly regretted” the accident and stressed in a statement that the concerts they put on “met the security requirements required by law.”
Hundreds hurt as Spain festival promenade collapses
Hundreds hurt as Spain festival promenade collapses
- The seafront platform was jammed with people watching a rap artist
- Part of it collapsed just before midnight on Sunday
Russia says Ukraine attacked Putin’s home, Kyiv calls this ‘lie’
- Zelensky called Russia’s claim “complete fabrication” designed to derail peace process, suggested Moscow was preparing to intensify bombardment of Ukraine
KYIV: Russia accused Ukraine on Monday of having fired dozens of drones at one of President Vladimir Putin’s homes, an accusation that Ukraine called a “lie” aimed at undermining US-led efforts to end the war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who does not typically announce drone strikes, said Ukraine had fired “91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles” at Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region between late Sunday and early Monday, all of which were shot down.
“Given the complete degeneration of the criminal Kyiv regime, which has shifted to a policy of state terrorism, Russia’s negotiating position will be reconsidered,” Lavrov said, without elaborating.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met with US President Donald Trump on Sunday for talks on ending the war, called Russia’s claim “a complete fabrication” designed to derail the peace process and suggested Moscow was preparing to intensify its bombardment of Ukraine.
“Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on X.
Russia’s accusation comes at a pivotal moment in the peace process.
Ukraine says it has agreed to 90 percent of a US-drafted peace plan — including the issue of post-war security guarantees — though the issue of territory in a post-war settlement remains unresolved.
Russia, which has stayed silent about what parts of the US plan it has agreed to, said Monday it was still committed to the peace process but would “revise” its position in light of the alleged drone attack.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a “special military operation” to demilitarise the country and prevent the expansion of NATO.
Kyiv and its European allies say the war, the largest and deadliest on European soil since World War II, is an unprovoked and illegal land grab that has resulted in a tidal wave of violence and destruction.
Territory main sticking point
Trump has held talks with both sides in recent days, including a phone call with Putin on Monday that the White House described as “positive.”
During talks with Zelensky on Sunday, Trump offered Kyiv long-sought-after security guarantees for a period of 15 years, according to Kyiv.
But the issue of territory and the future of the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine remain unresolved, Zelensky said.
Zelensky said Monday that Kyiv was ready for “any” format of meetings — including with Putin if necessary — but said he still did not think the Kremlin chief wanted peace.
The current plan, revised after weeks of intense US-Ukrainian negotiations, would stop the war at the current frontlines in the eastern Donbas region and establish a demilitarised area.
But the Kremlin has shown no sign of compromise.
Putin said Monday that Russia was pressing ahead with its plan to capture four Ukrainian regions it announced the annexation of in 2022 and that his troops were “confidently advancing.”
Moscow on Monday said it took another village, Dibrova, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
