Horrifying moment stadium collapses, killing six and injuring hundreds

Six people are dead after a stadium partially collapsed in Colombia, where locals were taking part in a bullfighting event.

A horrific video of the incident shows people running from the stands just before part of the three-story section of the stands collapsed into the ring.

People are seen trying to get out of the rubble, while others run around the ring and try and remove pieces of the collapsed structure to free people.

It was initially reported that four people died in the incident, however, ABC News reported six people have now been confirmed dead.

Regional health authorities said during a press conference late Sunday that 322 people had gone to local public and private hospitals after the collapse seeking treatment, the Associated Press reported.

The incident happened in the town of El Espinal in the western state of Tolima and the event is tied to the feast day of St Peter and St Paul.

"I hope that all the people affected by the collapse of the Plaza de El Espinal can come out unscathed," Colombia's president-elect Gustavo Petro said on Twitter.

He asked mayors to not authorise any more shows "with the death of people or animals".

El Espinal mayor Juan Carlos Tamayo said he deeply regretted what happened in the bull square.

"I want to ask the citizens that are in the bull square please evacuate, as the control agencies are attending the emergency and already evacuated the injured to the hospitals," he wrote on Facebook.

Tolima provincial governor Jose Ricardo Orozco told local Blu Radio on Sunday two women, a man and a minor were killed in the incident.

Orozco also said he had asked for the traditional “corralejas” to be suspended in Tolima earlier Sunday but this one was held anyway.

No one remained trapped in the wreckage, Major Luis Fernando Velez, director of civil defence in the province, told local television, and several people reported as missing have been found.

"The emergency has been overcome at the site of the incident. More or less 70 people were injured," Velez said.

He also admitted he did not know what exactly the stand was built out of, though he said it appeared to be constructed out of wooden boards.

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Ambulances from nearby cities had to be sent to El Espinal, as the local hospital became overwhelmed by the injured.

Colombia's current President Iván Duque on Twitter announced an investigation of the disaster.

“We lament the terrible tragedy registered in El Espinal, Tolima, during the festivals of San Pedro and San Juan, with the collapse of the stands during a corraleja," he said.

"We will call for an investigation.”

With Reuters and Associated Press

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