Cullera, Spain- One person has been confirmed dead, a 22-year-old male, and 40 injured after the main entrance and the main stage of the Medusa Festival collapsed in the wee hours of Saturday.
According to Spain‘s paramilitary police unit, the stage collapsed due to a strong gust of wind which had reached more than 51mph (82kmh).
In addition, the Valencia section of Spain’s national weather service (AEMET) said that warm breezes were producing very strong gusts of wind and abrupt increases in temperature. At one point the temperature was a blistering 40.5 Celsius (104.9 degrees Fahrenheit) at the Alicante-Elche airport, just south of the concert site.
Videos posted on social media early Saturday showed strong winds and structures falling from the stage as large crowds of festival attendees were evacuated. The videos also showed the moment when the venue’s structures, including the main stage, fell on people in the front rows.
“A terrible accident that shocks all of us. I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of the young man who died early this morning at the Medusa Festival in Cullera,” said Ximo Puig, president of the Valencia regional government.
Meanwhile, organizers of the festival, which was supposed to see a total of 320 000 attendees over three days from Friday through Sunday, said they are completely devastated and dismayed at what happened this morning and said they had suspended the festival.
“At around four in the morning, unexpected and violent strong winds destroyed certain areas of the festival, forcing management to make the immediate decision to vacate the concert area to guarantee the safety of attendees, workers and artists.
Unfortunately, the devastating meteorological phenomenon led some structures to cause unexpected consequences. All our support and affection for those affected in these difficult and sad times.
Due to inclement weather occurring in the early hours of Aug. 13, 2022, and with the aim of guaranteeing the security of the concert-goers, workers and artists gathered at the Medusa Festival, the festival organization suspends its activity for the time being.
The festival site is cleared as a preventative measure with the aim of facilitating the work of the emergency and security services at the Medusa Festival,” said the organizers in a statement.
There were about 50 000 people at the festival site when the incident happened, and it took 40 minutes to evacuate people from the site.
