Five people, including two children, were injured Sunday night when part of a fireworks “castle” fell into the crowd during a fair near Toluca, México state.
A video posted to social media shows one of the castle’s “crowns” detaching and plummeting toward attendees of the Santa Cruz Cuauhtenco fair in Zinacantepec, which borders Toluca. It landed among screaming fairgoers who were watching “the burning of the castle.”
México state Civil Protection authorities said a 29-year-old man and two children aged five and seven were taken to a Toluca hospital for treatment for unspecified injuries. Two other people received medical attention at the site of the accident.
Castillos pirotécnicos, or fireworks castles, are popular attractions at fairs and other celebrations in Mexico and fireworks-related injuries and deaths are also relatively common.
The moment when the fireworks castle collapsed and was captured on video.Esto ocurrió en la feria de Santa Cruz Cuauhténco,#Zinacantepec, #Edomex. Tres personas resultaron heridas (2 niños y un joven de aproximadamente 30 años). pic.twitter.com/7rs57oMvTU
— Qué Poca Madre 🇲🇽 (@QuePocaMadre_Mx) May 16, 2022
A castillo fell at a 2018 event in Zumpango, México state, injuring four people, while five people were killed the very next day when 11 kilograms of fireworks exploded in close vicinity to people attending a religious celebration in Tequisquiapan, Querétaro.
In even worse fireworks-related disasters, 42 people were killed in an explosion at a fireworks market in Tultepec, México state, in 2016, while at least 24 people died during or shortly after four blasts in the same municipality in 2018.
Located about 40 kilometers north of downtown Mexico City, Tultepec is considered Mexico’s fireworks capital due to the large number of fireworks that are made and sold there.
