Onlookers at a monster truck rally saw a fun day out descend into a nightmare situation on Sunday, May 3. Three people lost their lives. The incident occurred in the south of Colombia.
Videos by Wide Open Country
According to local police, it's believed that the truck's brakes failed during the show. A video, which has since been posted online, shows the truck crashing through a barrier and plowing into a crowd. At least 38 people are thought to have been injured by the incident.
Of the three dead, two are believed to be children. The BBC reported that one of them was a 10-year-old girl.
Juan Carlos Muñoz, the mayor of Popayán, has since released
a video statement regarding the tragic situation."Just finished a tour of San Jose Hospital, checking attention for people affected by the tragic accident that occurred during the Monster Truck event in the Rose Boulevard sector," the caption on his video reads. "Today is a deeply painful day for our city. I reiterate all my solidarity with the victims and their families. We continue to activate all institutional capacity to attend this emergency, follow up permanently with the injured and advance investigations with the competent authorities."
Muñoz then went on to call for respect for the families of those affected by the incident.
"I also call on people to act with respect, avoid political opportunism and misinformation, and stand united at this moment."
Octavio Guzmán Also Provided a Statement Following the Monster Truck Incident
Octavio Guzmán, the governor of Cauca, also released a statement following the incident.
"We deeply regret the accident that occurred this afternoon, Sunday, in the Boulevard Rose sector, which has preliminarily left 37 people injured and at least 2 deceased," he wrote on X. "From our Secretariat @saludcauca, we have deployed our entire institutional capacity and coordination with the public and private hospital network, firefighters, and ambulance network to address the situation."
Guzmán then continued by sharing his thoughts with the families that have been hurt by the incident.
"We express our solidarity with the families of those affected by this tragic accident, as well as with our capital city, Popayán."
No further details regarding what led to the monster truck's brakes failing have been released at this time.
