A stage where a presidential candidate was campaigning for local candidates collapsed on Wednesday night when a gust of wind blew through, killing at least six people and injuring at least 56 others, the mayor of a northern Mexican city said.
The stage collapsed in San Pedro Garza Garcia, a suburb of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon state. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on social media that the collapse was caused by strong winds.
Mayor Miguel Treviño announced the casualties in a video, adding that all the injured had been taken to hospital.
The stage, built on a baseball field, was the venue for the campaign of Mayoral Election candidate Lorenia Canavati of the Civic Movement Party. The party said it had canceled all candidates’ events scheduled for Thursday after “hurricane-like winds” destroyed the stage.
Alvarez Menez said on social media that he was “fine” after the collapse and said he had been communicating with state authorities to determine what happened. Ms Kanavati said her team was coordinating with authorities to support the victims.
Mexico’s weather service said late Wednesday that wind gusts of about 43 mph were expected in the country’s northeast, with tornadoes possible in Nuevo León and nearby states.
Nuevo León Gov. Samuel Garcia said in a video message that people should take shelter from the storm.
“We are witnessing thunderstorms. Strong winds and heavy rain are expected over the next two hours. “A tragedy has occurred. “
People across Mexico will vote on June 2 for the presidency and more than 20,000 local, state and congressional offices.
The Civic Movement, a center-left party founded in 1999, is represented in this year’s election by Mr. Álvarez Máynez, who has positioned himself as the front-runner for Crow in the ruling Morena party coalition. A third-party replacement for Claudia Sheinbaum, and Xóchitl Gálvez for the opposition.
victoria king and Natalie Kitrov Contributed reporting.
