9 dead and 54 injured as winds collapsed stage at election rally in Mexico

CNN
—

Nine people were killed and a presidential candidate was briefly hospitalized after a stage collapsed in strong winds at a campaign rally in Mexico on Wednesday.

Candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez said he was not injured in the incident, which occurred during his campaign rally in the northeastern city of San Pedro Garza García.

The governor of Mexico’s Nuevo Leon state said at least 54 people were injured and rescue operations were underway to save some of those trapped under the collapsed stage.

Among the dead was a minor, Governor Samuel García said in a post on X, adding that the condition of some of the injured was stable while others were undergoing surgery.

Videos shared on social media show the moment a strong gust of wind causes the stage to collapse. Álvarez Máynez and his team are seen running for cover as the structure, containing a large video screen, falls onto the stage and part of the audience area.

The Mexican weather service had forecast strong winds for the entire region and warned of gusts of up to 70 kilometers per hour from Wednesday afternoon.

Álvarez Máynez later said he would halt all campaign activities following the collapse but would remain in the state to monitor the situation and victims.

“We must show solidarity, there is nothing that can repair an accident, a damage of this kind, and (people) will not be alone with this tragedy and the consequences that this tragedy will have on their lives,” said Álvarez Máynez.

Speaking to reporters, Álvarez Máynez said that civil protection teams checked the “structure of the set” before the event, but that organizers were surprised by the strength of the wind gusts.

“The weather conditions were very atypical: the rain didn’t even last five minutes… it wasn’t even a storm, it was really atypical what happened,” he said.

The presidential candidate said an investigation into the incident would take place.

Governor García urged people in the region to stay in their homes and warned of further strong winds, thunderstorms and rain.

Mexico’s biggest election campaign in history is coming up on June 2nd. It is overshadowed by increasing political violence and assassinations.

So far this year, at least 28 candidates have been attacked and 16 killed, according to data from the research group Data Cívica through April 1. That number surpasses even the bloodiest election cycles in Mexico’s history.

This is a developing story and will be updated.