Moment human tower COLLAPSES during annual festival in Barcelona sending people plunging into the crowd below
- Human tower building groups or ‘castellers’ are a tradition of the La Mercè festival in the Spanish city
- As the final two people clamber to the top of those below lose their balance and the tower falls apart
- Eleven people plunge down onto those supporting them below and one man clutches chest in agony
Nail-biting footage shows the moment a human tower collapses during a festival in Barcelona.
Brave athletes were attempting to create a pyramid of bodies – one of the traditions of the La Mercè festival in the Spanish city.
But as the final two people clamber to the top, those below lose their balance and the tower falls apart.
Spectators watch in horror as eleven people balancing near the top of the human pyramid plunge onto the people supporting them below.
A stunned intake of breath can be heard in the crowd over the music playing in the background as they witness the accident unfold.
Many people were filming the spectacle on their phones at the time.
Their jaws drop as they seen the mass of bodies writhing in a heap as the athletes desperately try to untangle themselves.
A mass of bodies writhing in a heap as the athletes desperately try to untangle themselves after the accident in Barcelona
It is not clear how many people were injured in the accident, but one man can be seen clutching his chest in agony as he lies on top of the pile of tangled limbs.
Another person is carried away by paramedics on a stretcher.
One man can be seen clutching his chest in agony as he lies on top of the pile of tangled limbs in Barcelona
One of the human tower builders is carried away on a stretcher in the Spanish city. It is not clear how many people were injured
The La Mercè festival lasts for about five days and is held in honour of Mare de Deu de la Mercè, the patron saint of Barcelona.
It officially first took place in 1902 and celebrates the end of the summer and the beginning of autumn.
One of the highlights is the human tower building groups or ‘castellers’ who take centre stage on the Diada Castellera de la Mercè and perform for crowds.
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