Mexico: Several dead and dozens injured during rally by presidential candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez

At least five people died and 50 were injured when a stage collapsed during a rally by Mexican presidential candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez, reported the country's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. On X, the president cited a report from the governor of the state of Nuevo León, Samuel García, indicating that "four deaths and 15 injuries were reported."

However, the number of injuries and deaths increased as the hours passed, and some local media already reported nine deaths and more than 50 injured.

Images spread on social media show the moment when the towers that supported the temple collapse due to wind and a giant screen falls on the stage where Álvarez Máynez and other Citizen Movement candidates were.

Álvarez Máynez, 38, is third in the polls ahead of the June 2 elections. His team managed to get to safety after running away.

The accident occurred in the town of San Pedro Garza, part of the metropolitan area of the industrial city of Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo León. The event was the closing of the campaign of the Citizen Movement candidate for mayor of San Pedro, Lorenia Canavati, who was accompanied by Álvarez Máynez. Candidates for senators and deputies from the same party also participated.

"There was a tragedy, preliminarily we have five people dead and approximately 50 with different types of injuries, some serious, others mild," the governor of Nuevo León, Samuel García, told the press from the scene. García previously explained that strong winds knocked down the stage and asked people to take shelter because thunderstorms and intense rain were recorded in the area.

"I am fine and in communication with state authorities to follow up on what happened. The only important thing right now is to care for the victims," Álvarez Máynez wrote on social media.

The candidate added that the members of his team who were injured are being treated at a hospital. "I am heading back to the scene of the events to accompany the victims," he added.

His party said in a statement that it would suspend all campaign events "in solidarity with those affected."

Hysteria and panic

As reported by AFP, Citizen Movement Deputy Javier González Alcántara told Televisa that rescuers evacuated the injured who were under the temple, in the middle of a broad operation. "We were able to remove all the people who were under the stage and take the injured to the hospitals," he said.

José Juan, one of those attending the political event, narrated how the structure suddenly collapsed on the candidates and the public: "Suddenly it collapsed, hit me on the head and I fainted. The rest was pure hysteria, pure panic," he told Televisa.

The other candidates for the presidency of Mexico expressed their condolences for the incident.

"I hope everything is well with the candidates attending the Citizen Movement event in Nuevo León," Claudia Sheinbaum, candidate of the left-wing ruling party, wrote on X. She also announced the suspension of her next campaign event.

"With all my heart I hope that there are no serious injuries due to what happened at the Citizen Movement event in Nuevo León," said center-right opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez on the same platform.

Mexico is preparing to hold the largest elections in its history on June 2, in which the president, legislators, nine of 32 governors and thousands of local officials will be elected.

In total, just over 20,000 positions are up for grabs, in a campaign marked by organized crime and violence. At least 70 people have been killed in cases related to electoral violence. Of them, 33 were candidates.