The owner of the number four Education Court Swedish took a statement yesterday indicating that three of the five individuals are under investigation for negligent manslaughter and for twenty counts of injuries stemming from the same negligence tied to the tragedy that occurred at the Medusa de Cullera festival on 13 August, when a 22-year-old man died following a meteorological event described as a “thermal explosion” amid strong winds.
During the proceedings, the judge heard from a person in charge of the organizing company, Andreu Piqueras, who expressed willingness to answer every question posed by the magistrate, clarify the organization’s stance, and outline the actions taken. Engineer Vicente Vilaplana, head of the external company responsible for overseeing the infrastructure, and a representative from the Babalú group, the assembly company, also provided statements. These individuals were involved in the preparations for the structure that ultimately contributed to the teen’s death.
When questioned by the judge, the head of the organizing festival company stated that the advanced command post had been established as it is every year, and that the festival area did not receive any warnings from Aemet about impending weather events.
The business representative asserted that no security cost had been omitted, describing the expenditures as more than sufficient and noting that the festival worked with top external firms. He explained in detail the necessary arrangements for organizing the macro festival of this scale and reaffirmed that the issuing company is committed to engaging the nation’s best firms to install the necessary infrastructure. He added that foreign workers were involved and clarified that the organizing company itself bore responsibility for these arrangements.
The Medusa festival organizer clearly stated in an opening address before the magistrate that they opposed the report issued by the architects and signaled their intention to submit an alternative report soon, as nearly all parties conduct investigations.
The investigating judge sought comprehensive details from the organizers while the discussion remained focused on the core aspects rather than delving into technical minutiae. If questions arose about whether adequate security measures were in place for the building, Piqueras affirmed that only the essential precautions had been implemented and that they had been reinforced to ensure venue safety, as in prior editions.
The parties will return to the courthouse on January 25 for further proceedings. The two other individuals under investigation include the architect responsible for the technical project, Joaquin Llopis, and the representative of the other intervening assembly company in the jellyfish, Everest structures.
In these terms, the court’s objective is to clarify and allocate responsibilities surrounding the tragic accident at the Medusa 2022 music festival, an incident that left a young man dead and around forty others injured.
“According to the law”
The organization’s representatives who testified yesterday claimed that all assembly and work had been completed with relevant audits and positive reports. They argued that weather conditions are unpredictable due to their magnitude and asserted their willingness to cooperate with the justice system while allowing access to all technical explanations based on reports requested by the organization to clarify the situation [citation].