One killed and dozens injured after stage at Spanish music festival crashes down in 'strong wind'

13 August 2022, 13:24 | Updated: 14 August 2022, 09:37

One person has been killed and dozens more injured after the main stage collapsed in strong winds at a music festival in Spain.

Part of the stage came crashing down at the Medusa Festival near Valencia in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Emergency services rushed to the scene of the incident when a "strong gust of wind" knocked parts of the stage structure at around 4am.

The emergency services agency said one person was killed and about 40 people needed to be taken to hospital, including three with serious injuries.

Organisers of the festival, a six-day dance music event near the Spanish city of Valencia, said they had ordered the concert grounds cleared when the wind intensified.

"We are completely devastated and saddened at what happened this morning," organisers said in a statement on the festival's Facebook page.

"This is a terrible accident that has stunned us all," Valencia's regional president, Ximo Puig, wrote on Twitter.

National weather agency AEMET said strong gusts of wind during the night reached 51mph at Alicante airport in the Valencia region.

National broadcaster TVE showed images of strong gusts of wind battering against people's tents in the middle of the night.