In Mexico, decorations collapsed on people during an election rally

28 May 2024

During a campaign speech by Mexican presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Maines, part of the stage collapsed on people. The incident occurred in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia.

Mexico's Civic Movement presidential candidate Jorge Álvarez Maines was bombarded with scenery while attending a campaign rally in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia in the state of Nuevo León. This was reported by El Universal.

According to the newspaper, which also publishes video recordings made by eyewitnesses, the emergency occurred during a rally that concluded the election campaign of the candidate for mayor of San Pedro from the “Civic Movement” Lorenia Cannavati. Maines, who is running for the presidency of Mexico, also took part in the event.

According to video recordings, the politicians and their associates were on stage when a powerful gust of wind hit them on a large screen standing behind them, on which the party logo was being projected at that moment.

According to preliminary data, at least nine people were killed and about 50 injured. The candidates themselves were able to run under them when the decorations fell and did not receive serious injuries. However, Maines was taken to a San Jose hospital. The politician wrote about this on his page on X (formerly Twitter).

General elections in Mexico will be held on June 2. The main opponent of the leader of the voter polls is the successor to the current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Claudia Sheinbaum from the National Renaissance Movement (MORENA). Her main competitor is Senator Xochitl Galvez, representing the opposition center-right alliance Strength and Heart for Mexico. The third candidate, the youngest in Mexican history, is 38-year-old Civic Movement representative Jorge Alvarez Maines. On the same day, Mexicans will elect deputies and senators of Congress, as well as governors of some regions, including the head of the government of Mexico City.