At least two dead and four wounded in shooting during a concert in Paraguay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least two people lost their lives, and four more were wounded in a shooting last Sunday, January 30, in the middle of a concert in the Paraguayan city of San Bernardino, of which the causes or possible perpetrators are unknown, local media reported.

The incident occurred at the José Asunción Flores amphitheater, where a musical show called Ja’umina Fest was taking place, which was presumably attended by thousands of people.

One of the deceased is the well-known model Cristina Vita Aranda, ex-wife of the soccer player Iván Torres, who plays for the Olimpia club of Paraguay.

The director of the National Hospital in Itauguá, Yolanda González, confirmed to ABC TV the death of Aranda, who arrived at the hospital with a “guarded prognosis” after being shot in the head.

Another unidentified man died at the scene, according to local media reports.

Based on reports from the Ministry of Health, ABC TV indicated that four people were taken to hospitals after suffering gunshot wounds and that their condition is stable.

Local media did not rule out the possibility of an attack, although the authorities have not confirmed this version.

“We thought it was fireworks at first,” a witness told ABC. But then she saw a stampede of people trying to get out and realized the risk. “To enter the concert, they asked for vaccination records. My friend didn’t bring her card, but she still got in. They didn’t check our bags. They didn’t check anything,” she said.

Social networks were flooded with images of what happened in the middle of the concert, which was immediately suspended.

The Ja’umina Fest brought together artists such as the Colombian group El Binomio de Oro and the Argentine group Damas Gratis, among others.

The incident occurred during the live performance of the group El Binomio de Oro.

Journalist Lisandra Aguilar wrote on her Twitter account: “I was singing El Binomio de Oro’s songs at the top of my lungs when I saw a girl faint because she witnessed a woman being killed. People started running, some of them with blood on them, throwing things, booing, nerves took over me. Today I value life much more. Theories began to be created about what was happening; we even heard that a group of 10 armed people was killing everyone, a horrible uncertainty.”

With information from EFE

More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.