Joana Sainz García, a Spanish pop star, was killed Sunday during the finale of a four-day music concert in Las Berlanas, Spain, when a cartridge from a pyrotechnic device struck her.
EOnline.com reports the 30-year-old performer was singing with the Super Hollywood Orchestra at the time the firework went off, knocking her unconscious. Newsweek reports a doctor and nurse in the crowd tended to the singer’s injuries before she was removed from the stage and rushed to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Prones 1SL Agency, which represents the orchestra, said in a Facebook post, “[We] express our most heartfelt condolences to the family, partners, and friends for the loss of our colleague Joana. She always showed exemplary behavior, both personal and artistic, in addition to a great human quality. It’s going to be very difficult for all of us to overcome her absence. We will always remember you, Joana. R.I.P.”
The government of Las Berlanas said in its own statement, “From the Municipal Corporation of Las Berlanas and as representatives of the whole town, we want to extend our condolences to the relatives of Joanna, the girl from the Super Hollywood group who died yesterday in our town, as well as to all her groupmates. We also want to thank… all visitors for their good behavior in those difficult times. Thank you very much DEP Johana Sainz. You are in our memory.”
Both statements are roughly translated via Facebook.
The owner of Prones 1SL, Isidro López, told El Diario Montañés that the same pyrotechnics had been in place for years, without incident.