One dead and 17 injured after the collapse of the stage at the Medusa Festival in Spain

Shocking images of the drought due to the heat wave in France 0:54

Madrid, Spain (CNN) --

One person was killed and 17 were injured, three of them seriously, after a stage collapsed Saturday at a music festival near Valencia, Spain, according to local officials.

The disaster occurred at the Medusa Festival in the city of Cullera, near Valencia at 4:18 am local time "due to a strong gust of wind", they said.

Part of the stage collapsed at the Medusa Festival near Valencia.

The festival management on Saturday morning announced that the festival had been suspended.

"Due to the inclement weather that occurred during the early hours of August 13, 2022, and with the aim of guaranteeing the safety of the attendees, workers and artists gathered at Festival Medusa, the organization of the festival suspends its activity for the moment," he said. the festival management on Instagram.

"The enclosure is evacuated as a preventive measure in order to facilitate the work of the emergency services and security of the Medusa festival," he added.

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Videos posted on social media early Saturday showed strong winds and structures falling from the stage as large crowds of festival-goers were evacuated.

Official service of the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET)

in the Valencian Community said on Twitter that the warm breeze produced very strong gusts of wind and abrupt increases in temperature.

At around 3:00 am local time, the temperature was 40.5 Celsius (104.9 degrees Fahrenheit) at the Alicante-Elche airport, just south of the concert site, on the Mediterranean coast, with winds of 82 kilometers (about 50 miles) per hour.

Temperatures have been rising across Europe with declared droughts in various parts of England and bushfires in France.