BOGOTA, June 27, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - At least four people were killed and

another 30 seriously injured on Sunday when the grandstand at a bullring in
Colombia collapsed during a popular event at which members of the public face
off with small bulls, officials said.

"There are four people dead at the moment -- two women, a man and a child,"
the governor of Tolima department, Jose Ricardo Orozco, told local radio
after the incident in the central city of El Espinal.

A full three-story section of wooden stands filled with spectators collapsed,
throwing dozens of people to the ground, according to images broadcast on
social media.

Another video taken by someone at the scene showed people trying to escape
from the stands while a bull continues to roam in the arena.

"There are about 30 people seriously injured... that's a preliminary report,"
Orozco said, noting that emergency personnel were still evacuating the
wounded to area hospitals for treatment.

Local civil defense official Luis Fernando Velez said they did not know how
many people were still buried in the debris, but noted that the section of
stands was full when it collapsed.

The event was part of celebrations surrounding the San Pedro festival, the
most popular in the region.

"We will request an investigation of the facts about what happened,"
Colombia's outgoing President Ivan Duque said on Twitter, expressing his
solidarity with the families of those killed and hurt.

Orozco said the departmental government would move to ban the so-called
"corralejas" in which local residents try their luck in the ring, saying they
were dangerous and promoted animal abuse.

On Saturday, several people were injured in accidents at the corralejas in El
Espinal, which is home to about 78,000 people, and is located about 150
kilometers (93 miles) from the capital Bogota.

Another person died earlier this month after being gored by a bull during a
corraleja in the town of Repelon.

President-Elect Gustavo Petro, who will take office on August 7, joined
Orozco in calling for the amateur bullfights to be banned.

When he served as mayor of Bogota, the leftist Petro put a stop to bullfights
in the city's signature bullring, La Santamaria.

While animal abuse is a crime in Colombia, bullfights and cock fights are
protected because of the cultural history behind them.