MADRID, Aug 13 (Reuters) – One person was killed and dozens were injured when part of the stage of an electronic music festival collapsed near the Spanish city of Valencia early on Saturday. due to high winds, regional emergency services said.
Other infrastructure was also damaged when gusting winds hit the Medusa Festival, a major six-day electronic music festival in the east coast town of Cullera, south of Valencia.
Of the injured, three suffered serious trauma and 14 suffered minor injuries, regional emergency services said on Twitter.
Regional health authorities later reported that 40 people had been treated.
“We are completely devastated and saddened by what happened this morning,” organizers said in a statement on the festival’s Facebook page.
“Around four o’clock in the morning, strong, violent and unexpected winds destroyed certain parts of the festival, forcing the management to take the immediate decision to evacuate the concert area to guarantee the safety of the participants, workers and artists”, they said. organizers said.
The festival has been suspended for the time being, they added.
National weather agency AEMET said there had been “strong gusts of wind and a sudden rise in temperatures” overnight, with gusts of 82 km/h recorded at Alicante airport in the region. of Valencia. (Report Jessica Jones and Elena Rodriguez, French version Jean-Michel Blot)