Nine killed in Mexico stage collapse at campaign event

Nine people died on Wednesday evening in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon after a stage collapsed at a campaign event for the Citizens' Movement party, the state's governor said.

Around 50 people were also injured, Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia said on social media, while the director of Mexico's Social Security Institute reported that dozens were being treated at local clinics.

The victims were eight adults and one child, Garcia said, adding that hewas headedto a hospital where three people were in surgery.

Jorge Alvarez Maynez, the presidential candidate for the centrist Citizens' Movement party, said a gust of wind caused the stage to collapse at the event inthe city ofSan Pedro Garza Garcia, a wealthy enclave near the industrial hub of Monterrey.

Video of the accident showed the structure suddenly falling forward into the crowd, sending the politicians on stage running for cover and panicked attendees scattering.

"I've never experienced something so sudden," Alvarez Maynez told reporters, referring to how quickly the wind picked up before the stage collapsed.

Alvarez Maynez, who returned to the scene of the accident after being cleared at a local hospital, said he was suspending campaign activities and that he hoped authorities would investigate what occurred, requesting transparency in the process.

Alvarez Maynez's campaign coordinatorLauraBallesteroswashospitalisedwith a broken foot, according to the party, andmayoral candidate for San Pedro Garza Garcia, Lorenia Canavati, wrote on social media that she was coordinating with authorities to support those impacted and their families.