At least nine people, including two 12-year-old children, died in a stampede during a major rock concert in the western Guatemalan city of Quetzaltenango, authorities and emergency services said Thursday.
Six people were infected at the outdoor festival in the early hours of Thursday, according to Maria del Carmen Sajquim, a spokeswoman for Guatemala’s Western Regional Hospital.
Local firefighters said on Twitter earlier that the injured were taken to hospital and believed to have fractures.
Eyewitnesses at the scene said that the place had only two exits and that chaos reigned when everyone rushed to the exits.
Local media described the festival, in which more than 10 bands played, as an annual Independence Day event in the Central American country.
The stampede is just one of the many fatal public events that Latin America has experienced in recent years.
In June, four people were killed and about 70 injured when part of a platform collapsed at a bullring in El Espinal, Colombia.
In one of the region’s most tragic events, a 2004 fire in a nightclub in Buenos Aires killed 194 people after a concert-goer lit a torch in the crowded venue shortly after rock band Callijeros appeared on stage.
“Coffee trailblazer. Certified pop culture lover. Infuriatingly humble gamer.”
