Spanish Pop Singer Joana Sainz Garcia Dies In On-Stage Explosion — What Happened
The fatal incident happened this past Sunday on the last day of a four-day festival.
Instagram Sudden tragedy struck a popular music festival in Las Berlanas, Spain when Spanish pop-star, Joana Sainz Garcia died from an exploding firework. A video of the horrifying incident has already been shared by many media outlets, where you can see the singer become fatally injured by a device. As of now, this is being called a total freak accident, and fans and onlookers alike are reeling over the devastating loss.
Are you out of the loop and wondering, who is Joana Sainz Garcia? Fear not: here are the important details you need to know about this burgeoning star and the incident that cut her life short.
1. Joana Sainz Garcia was a multi-facted professional singer, songwriter and dancer.
Professionally known as Joana Garcia, Garcia had cemented a durable career for herself in Spain's growing pop industry. Born and raised in the city of Santander, Spain, the energetic 30-year-old was not only the principal dancer for the renowned music group, Orquesta Super Hollywood, but she also spearheaded and choreographed a large number of their dance routines. She also worked as a dance school teacher, and was hailed for her artistic spirit, unwavering hustle, and beautiful personality.
2. She had been working with Orquesta Super Hollywood for six years.
An extensive pop band with musicians, singers, and dancers, Orquesta Super Hollywood garnered popularity through their English and Spanish performances, particularly covering songs by legends like Michael Jackson. She and the group traveled far and wide, making live appearances at various shows, festivals and events over the years. This year alone, the group, as part of their tour of Castilla y Leon, had up to 25 productions, experiencing zero technical problems at any of the venues, including Samir de los Caños (Zamora), or in Ledrada (Salamanca), or in Belorado (Burgos).
3. Joana Sainz Garcia was always comfortable around the group's crazy stunts.
The group is known for its brilliant special effects and displays, including pyrotechnics, also known as, in layman’s terms, fireworks. Despite the obvious adverse risks involved, Garcia was fearless, bringing charisma and confidence in every performance according to those who worked closely with her. Those who knew her agree that she was equally brave and talented as she was hardworking, humble, and kind.
4. The group waited for 25 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.
After the incident, band members immediately went to her aid and contacted proper channels. The faulty firework cartridge struck Garcia in the abdomen, resulting in severe injury to an artery that needed to be rectified ASAP. Garcia also received aid from audience members, a doctor and three nurses, who attempted to keep her fully conscious while waiting for additional help. It took 25 minutes for paramedics to finally arrive fully ready to stabilize and transport her to Avila Healthcare Complex, a nearby hospital. By that time, she was unconscious and later was pronounced dead. There hasn’t been much discussion surrounding the delay, but one could speculate that it had crucial impact between the outcome of life or death.
5. According to investigators, it is believed that the accident resulted from a faulty firework cartridge.
The group's promoter, Prones 1SL, the group’s promoter, believe the incident was "the result of a manufacturing error with the explosive." During the shows, the pyrotechnic cartridges parts of the displays were almost always detonated as a safety precaution. The band members have used this particular system in the past without injury — until this fatal incident. For this reason, it has been concluded that a defective cartridge was the culprit, not technical negligence by those involved; but nonetheless, the Civil Guard has launched an investigation on the two different companies that supplied the materials for the display and the cartridges.
6. The concert where she died was held to honor the community’s recovery from a different tragedy.
The festival was held in memory of the August 29, 1959 flood that deeply affected the Las Berlanas community. On this fateful day, the La Berlana flooded, bringing extensive damage, two deaths and subsequent reconstruction to the city. The annual festival event typically attracts thousands of fans, and this year’s concert was held at a new, larger venue to accommodate the audience. This was Orquesta Super Hollywood’s second performance at the festival, which had been plagued by any tragedies in the past.
Dominique is an unapologetic Scorpio (BIG co-star girl), reality TV loving heathen, and twenty-something, NYC-based writer with a moderately interesting life, knack for editing, and passion for content creation.