Nine people died and 50 others were injured Wednesday, May 22, when a marquee collapsed on the stage of a meeting of Mexican presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Maynez in northern Mexico, Mexico’s governor said. the State of Nuevo Leon, Samuel Garcia, on the social network
The marquee which housed Jorge Alvarez Maynez’s podium collapsed as the region suffered storms, strong winds and heavy rains, leaving “around fifty” people injured, some of them “seriously”, the governor announced earlier.
“There was a misfortune. Strong winds caused a stage to collapse at a campaign event here in San Pedro,” Garcia said in a video posted on his social media. Other images published on X show people being extracted from a pile of iron structures.
Alvarez Maynez, 38, third in polls for the June 2 election, and other members of his party managed to run to safety. “I am doing well and am in communication with authorities to follow up on what happened. The most important thing at the moment is to take care of the victims of the accident,” Maynez wrote on X.
Jorge Alvarez Maynez added that his team members who were injured were being treated in hospital. “I am returning to the scene to support the victims,” he said. Mr. Maynez’s party announced in a statement that it was suspending all campaign events “in solidarity with the victims.”
” Panic “
“All the people who were under the scene were evacuated and the injured were taken to the hospital,” explained Javier Gonzalez Alcantara, deputy of Movimiento ciudadano, on the Televisa channel. “Suddenly”, the structure “collapsed, hit me in the head and I fainted, the rest was just pure hysteria, pure panic,” one of the participants in the meeting added on Televisa, José Juan.
It was the closing of the campaign of the Movimiento ciudadano candidate for mayor of San Pedro, Lorenia Canavati, who was accompanied by Alvarez Maynez. Senate and congressional candidates from the same party were also present.
“I hope that everything goes well for the candidates participating in the Movimiento ciudadano event in Nuevo Leon,” wrote on X Claudia Sheinbaum, candidate of the left-wing ruling party and big favorite for the presidency. “From the bottom of my heart, I hope that no one was seriously hurt by what happened at the Movimiento ciudadano event in Nuevo Leon,” said center-right opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez , on the same platform.
Alvarez Maynez gained notoriety thanks to his presence on social networks and his participation in the obligatory presidential debates, during which he tried to present an independent image, avoiding personal attacks against the competing candidates.
Close to the governor of Nuevo Leon, who also belongs to the Movimiento ciudadano, he was a federal deputy in the Mexican Congress before entering the race for president. In recent days, opposition parties have asked him to step down in favor of Ms. Galvez, which he has refused to do.
Mexico is preparing to experience the most important elections in its history on June 2, during which the president, members of Congress, nine of thirty-two governors and thousands of local officials will be elected.