Highland Games tragedy as castle visitor, 65, is killed instantly when 22lb metal ball from hammer-throwing event ‘flies over a hedge’ and hits him in the head in Holland
- The visitor was walking the grounds of Geldrop Castle when he was struck
- The hammer flew over a hedge and smashed into him during the event
- The 65-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and the Games were halted
A passerby has been killed during the hammer-throwing event at the Highland Games after he was struck by the 22lb ball in the head in a freak accident in the Netherlands.
The 65-year-old man was walking in the grounds of Geldrop Castle when the unseen hammer soared through the sky and smashed into him.
A witness told local news outlet Omroep Brabant: ‘The pendulum dropped, we saw the ball go over the hedge and then we heard a woman screaming very loudly.
A passerby has been killed during the hammer-throwing event at the Highland Games in the Netherlands (pictured: police at the scene yesterday)
The 65-year-old man was walking in the grounds of Geldrop Castle (pictured) when the unseen hammer soared through the sky and smashed into him
‘It wasn’t a spectator… so he didn’t see the ball coming at all.’
The man was not a spectator for the Open Highland Games but was instead visiting the castle gardens.
A trauma helicopter and emergency services rushed to the scene but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The hammer is a wooden pole with a metal ball attached to the end, and features in the traditional Scottish games.
Spectators could only watch on in horror as the man was knocked to the ground and the Games were immediately halted.
Many ran towards the victim and tried to perform CPR but their efforts were in vain.
The hammer is a wooden pole with a metal ball attached to the end, and features in the traditional Scottish games
The man was not a spectator for the Open Highland Games but was instead visiting the castle gardens (file image of a hammer thrower)
Witnesses said they had been told not to stand in the area where the ball had landed but people were able to walk behind the hedge.
The hammer thrower was ‘completely upset’ after the tragedy, with a witness saying: ‘He was not a rookie, but really a top player, who had already participated in big competitions before.’
Adri Geerts, chairman of organisers Foundation Village Marketing Geldrop-Mierlo, told local media: ‘We are flabbergasted that something like this can happen.
‘You don’t expect it, it’s the biggest disaster that can happen to all of us. We’re devastated.
‘I felt super excited about the event and all the people who were there.
‘That someone then dies due to an accident, that makes me super sad.’
Competitors are receiving help from victim support and the athlete who threw the fatal hammer is ‘completely beside himself’, Geerts said.
Police are continuing to investigate the incident and have not yet publicly identified the victim.
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