At least nine people, including a child, died after strong wind gusts caused a stage in northern Mexico to collapse during a campaign rally on Wednesday, authorities said.
At least 50 other people were injured in the accident, some seriously, according to Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia.
Images of the accident showed a crowd fleeing as the structure supporting the stage toppled over and a giant screen fell on the stage where longshot presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Maynez and members of his Citizens’ Movement party were standing.
“At the moment, unfortunately five people lost their lives and 50 have moderate and serious injuries,” the governor of the northern state of Nuevo Leon, Samuel Garcia, wrote on social media platform X.
Maynez, 38, said that he was safe following the accident in the town of San Pedro Garza Garcia.
He said that he would remain at the scene until the last injured person was taken to hospital.
Some members of his team were being treated at the hospital, according to Maynez, who according to polls is in third place ahead of the June 2 presidential election.
He lags far behind both frontrunner Claudia Sheinbaum and main opposition presidential candidate Xochitl Galvez in surveys.
In a post on social media, outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador offered his sympathies to the family members and friends of the victims.
He said the campaign rally accident was caused by strong winds.
Maynez’s party said in a statement that he would suspend all campaign events “in solidarity with those affected.”
On June 2, Mexicans will vote for a new president as well as members of Congress, several state governors, and local officials.
In total, more than 20,000 positions are being contested.
With AFP
