Festival platform collapse horror

AT LEAST 313 people have been injured – five of them seriously – after a wooden walkway collapsed during a seaside concert, tipping many into the sea.

There was panic as the accident unfolded at the end of a three-day festival in the north-western Spanish city of Vigo. None of those hurt are thought to have life-threatening injuries.

Witnesses said the boardwalk gave way during the first song of a performance by the Majorcan rap artist Rels B when he told the crowd to jump.

The wooden boards cracked along a central section 40m long.

Divers searched for anyone trapped under the collapsed structure.

Enrique Cesar Lopez Veiga, president of the local port authority, said he suspected there was a structural problem with the boardwalk – which collapsed just before midnight on Sunday – ‘probably because of excessive weight’.

The free annual O Marisquiño festival attracts 160,000 visitors and features music, gastronomy and sports such as skateboarding and mountain biking.