A horrific video has surfaced from Colombia.
A video that has gone viral on social media shows a monster truck driver losing control and plowing into a crowd of spectators.
The accident occurred during the “Monster Truck 2026” event in Popayán, Colombia.
Watch the moment here:
A vehicle plowed into a crowd during the “Monster Truck 2026” event held in Colombia. pic.twitter.com/sKHineQUiX
— Universal News (@universalnewsx) May 4, 2026
The New York Times confirmed the video’s authenticity and provided the following details:
A monster truck plowed into a crowd of spectators during a stunt at an outdoor motor sport event in Colombia on Sunday, killing three people and injuring 40 others, the local authorities said.
Video footage verified by the Reuters news agency shows crowds of people in Popayán, the capital of Cauca, a department in southwestern Colombia, watching as the driver performed tricks, then appeared to lose control of the vehicle and hit spectators standing behind a barrier.
Juan Carlos Muñoz, the mayor of Popayán, said in a statement that some of those injured were being treated at a hospital in the city and that local authorities would investigate.
“Today is a deeply painful day for our city,” Mr. Muñoz said.
El Tiempo, a Colombian newspaper, reported that police were looking at mechanical failure as a possible cause. “The vehicle accelerated and the brakes didn’t work,” Julián Castañeda, a local police commander, told the newspaper.
Many users on X noted that in the U.S., monster trucks have “kill switches” that prevent drivers from hitting spectators.
This is why America has safety standards and remote kill switches at monster truck shows pic.twitter.com/D7GRItip9m
— Mittens (@JUSTcatmeme) May 4, 2026
This isn’t the first time a monster truck driver has lost control and driven into a crowd.
NBC News reported a similar incident occurred in Mexico nearly eight years earlier:
An out-of-control monster truck shot into a crowd of spectators at a Mexican air show, killing eight people and hurting 79, officials said. The driver was detained Sunday on suspicion of manslaughter and officials said they were investigating possible safety violations in the setup of the show.
Carlos Gonzalez, spokesman for the Chihuahua state prosecutors’ office, said driver Francisco Velazquez appeared to lose control of the truck after leaping over cars it was crushing during a demonstration at the “Extreme Aeroshow” on Saturday.
Video taken from the stands by spectator Krizthall Martinez and provided to The Associated Press shows the truck making an initial pass over two cars. It then makes a second pass at higher speed, coming down sharply nose first and bouncing violently before piling straight into the crowd, which stood directly in the path of the monster truck unprotected by any wall or barrier.
The three-day show, which included performances by airplanes, the monster truck acts and other events, was canceled after the accident on its second day in a park on the outskirts of Chihuahua, the capital of Chihuahua state.
Here’s footage from the tragic accident:
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