Horrifying moment man is killed by a speeding racehorse as thousands of strangers turn up to attend 15-year-old Mexican girl’s ‘viral’ birthday party
Around 40,000 people are estimated to have turned up for the event, which was only supposed to be for neighbouring villages
HORRIFYING footage shows a man being knocked down and killed by his own horse during a race as thousands turn out to celebrate a 15-year-old girl's birthday after her dad put an open invite on Facebook.
The graphic video shows the animal smashing into the cowboy hat-wearing victim as he stepped onto the course, ignoring onlookers’ warnings to get out of the way.
The race was meant to be the highlight of Mexican teenager Rubi Ibarra Garcia's 15th birthday party, which was hijacked by strangers after her dad Crescencio posted about it online, with more than a million people responding.
Around 40,000 people are estimated to have turned up for the event, which was only supposed to be for neighbouring villages.
Rubi’s mum Ana Elda later explained that his video promo, in which he proudly described the party and prizes in a cowboy hat before announcing, “Everyone is cordially invited”, was intended only for neighbouring communities.
The huge numbers of people that turned up at Rubi’s coming-of-age celebration on a ranch in the small Mexican village of La Joya in the central state of San Luis Potosi, left the teenager and her family overwhelmed.
And today it became clear that the December 26 party had sparked more than just chaos as a local was pronounced dead at the scene and another man had to be taken to hospital injured.
The tragedy occurred during a horse race known as the ‘chiva’, when the animal’s owner went to cross the dirt-track thinking all the animals had already sprinted past, but was hit from behind by his own horse.
A video taken on a mobile phone and published online showed the horrific impact, with another home-made video showing the critically-injured victim being stretchered into an ambulance with a neck brace on.
He died as he was being transferred to hospital.
He was named as Felix Pena, who came from a neighbouring village and whose horse Oso Dormido - ‘Sleeping Bear’ in English - took part in the race.
Ranch owner Juan Garcia, who witnessed the tragedy, said: “He thought no-one was coming and stepped out onto the course and the horse that was coming hit him full on.”
Another local added: “His emotion got the better of him. It was an accident with a tragic ending but a simple accident nonetheless.”
The race, one of the highlights of the birthday bash, ended up being cancelled following the incident.
Pictures from the event showed Rubi being mobbed by guests and local media as she tried to make her way to mass.
The teenager and her family looked miserable after the event was hijacked by the revellers who saw the invite on Facebook after they forgot to set the event to private.
Reports said the event led to 10 mile traffic jams as people tried to reach the ranch.
The famous video that sparked the rush to attend showed Mr Ibarra standing by his tiara-wearing daughter and his wife.
He says: “Hello, how are you? We invite you this 26th of December to the 15th birthday party of our daughter, Rubi Ibarra Garcia.”
He then goes on to list the three bands that will play and announces that the winner of a horse race to be held as part of the event stands to win 10,000 pesos (£390).
He ends by saying: “Hereby everyone is cordially invited.”
Revellers who attended the enormous bash took to social media with the hashtag #rubixv.
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Ahead of the party, a Mexican airline even published a promotion offering 30 per cent discounts on flights to San Luis Potosi under the slogan, ‘Are you going to Rubi’s party?’
Internet jokers published mock pictures of massive crowds heading for the bash and Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, named in 2016 by Time Magazine in the annual Time 100 most influential people list, made a parody video of the birthday invitation.
A quinceanera - the name given to the sort of birthday parties still held in south and Central America - are elaborate celebrations to symbolise girls leaving childhood.
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