A 13-year-old boy has died after part of a fountain collapsed during celebrations marking Spain’s second-ever FIFA World Cup victory, turning a night of jubilation into tragedy.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight on Monday in Ciudad Rodrigo, a walled medieval city of around 12,000 people in Spain’s Salamanca province, near the Portuguese border.
According to regional emergency services, hundreds of residents had gathered around the Arbol Gordo fountain in the city centre to celebrate the national team’s World Cup triumph when the upper section of the monument broke away and fell onto the crowd.
The collapse killed the 13-year-old and injured two other people, emergency officials said.
In a statement, Ciudad Rodrigo’s town hall expressed its condolences to the victim’s family and friends.
“The entire city feels this loss and accompanies the minor’s friends and family in their grief,” the statement said.
“What should have been a celebration of the Spanish national team’s World Cup victory has turned into a tragedy.”
