Three people were killed and at least 38 injured when a monster truck drove into spectators during an exhibition in Popayán, southern Colombia, authorities said. Police believed a brake or other mechanical failure may have caused the vehicle to accelerate through a barrier and into the crowd.
Video from the Sunday event showed spectators running as the truck crossed the barrier before coming to a stop against an electricity pole. The supplied reporting did not identify all of the victims or provide a full breakdown of the injuries. A city official said a 10-year-old girl died at the scene, according to reporting cited by BBC News.
Popayán police commander Colonel Julián Castañeda said the initial indication was that the truck experienced a mechanical problem. He said the vehicle accelerated and could not brake, while the driver was in stable condition. That preliminary assessment had not yet been established as the final cause.
Mayor Juan Carlos Muñoz Bravo promised a rigorous investigation and said the circumstances would be clarified responsibly and transparently. Cauca regional governor Octavio Guzmán expressed solidarity with the families of those affected and with residents of the provincial capital.
The collision turned an organized public show into a mass-casualty scene within seconds. A heavy exhibition vehicle that left its intended course was able to reach an area occupied by spectators, making the condition of the truck, the strength and placement of barriers, and event safety arrangements central questions for investigators. The supplied evidence did not say which authority licensed the show or what protective requirements were in place.
Officials' early focus on a possible brake failure provides one line of inquiry, but a complete investigation would need to determine whether the failure began before the acceleration, whether other components or driver actions contributed, and whether the spectator area offered adequate separation. No such findings were available in the immediate account.
The reported toll—three dead and at least 38 wounded—made the crash a major public-safety incident for Popayán. The number injured also indicated that the truck entered a densely occupied section of the crowd rather than striking only the perimeter. Emergency and hospital details, including the severity of individual injuries, were not supplied.
For families and local authorities, the next phase centered on identifying why the vehicle could not be stopped and whether the event's safeguards performed as intended. The mayor's pledge of transparency set an expectation for a public explanation, while police treated mechanical failure as a working theory rather than a concluded fact. Until technical examination and witness evidence were complete, the confirmed account remained limited to the truck's path, the casualty toll and officials' commitment to investigate.
