One killed as stage collapse at Spain's Medusa festival

One person died, and at least 40 others were injured when high winds caused parts of the main stage at a dance music festival in Spain to collapse on Saturday.

Violent gusts of wind tore off parts of the stage, sending Medusa festival goers running in panic. A 22-year-old man was killed when he was struck by part of the stage.

"It was a tense few minutes. I've never experienced anything like it before," DJ Miguel Serna, who was performing at the time, wrote on Instagram.

"The tragedy happened just at the end of my session on the main stage, just below it, which was the most affected (area). It was a few moments of horror, I am still in shock."

Festival canceled, investigation ordered

Other infrastructure was also damaged when the gusts battered the festival held in the east coast town of Cullera, south of Valencia.

"We are completely devastated and saddened at what happened this morning," organizers said earlier on the festival's Facebook page.

The rest of the event, which had attracted tens of thousands of visitors mainly from Spain, was called off following the storm.

Spanish minister of the presidency Felix Bolanos, who is in charge of relations between the government and parliament, said authorities have been ordered to investigate if more could have been done to have prevented the tragedy.

Spain's meteorological agency, however, said the storm was a relatively rare phenomenon that was difficult to predict. It recorded gusts of winds exceeding 80kmh (50mph) at Alicante airport in the Valencia region.

The City of Cullera has ordered two days of official mourning over the death.

lo/aw (AP, EFE, Reuters)