AXE Ceremonia: two photographers killed after crane collapses at Mexico City festival

Mexican festival AXE Ceremonia was cancelled over the weekend after two photographers were killed when a crane collapsed on site.

The festival, which included Charli XCX, LCD Soundsystem, Fuerza Regida and more on its line-up, officially closed on 5th April following the tragic incident.  Both photographers – Miguel Angel Rojas, 26, and Berenice Giles, 28 – were reportedly working on behalf of the independent media outlet Mr. Indie.

In a statement in Spanish, the festival organisers wrote: “It is with profound sadness that we confirm the deaths of the two people injured during today’s incident. We are deeply saddened by this loss. We are contacting their families to be with them during this difficult time and offer our full support and solidarity. The safety of our community has always been our priority, and we have maintained, as we have from the very beginning, close collaboration and complete openness with the authorities.”

The cancellation was confirmed on Sunday (6th April) in a post on X made by the mayor’s office of Miguel Hidalgo, the borough where the event took place: “The teams from the Miguel Hidalgo Government and Legal Affairs, along with the borough’s Civil Protection department and the Administrative Verification Institute of Mexico City, completed the inspection and placed suspension seals at the entrances to AXE Ceremonia in Bicentennial Park,” the mayor’s office stated in its message.

According to a statement from the Mexico City Government, issued through the Secretariat of Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection, the accident happened at around 5.30 PM (local time) when a gust of wind knocked over the structure. “The mentioned structure fell on two people who received pre-hospital care at the scene, and were later urgently transported to the hospital, where they unfortunately passed away,” authorities wrote in the statement.

A photojournalist who was on site told Billboard Español that some attendees had tried to move the structure to help the victims before emergency services arrived to cordon off the area.

The Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office has announced that an investigation has been launched into the cause of the tragedy.