In a strange accident in the Netherlands, a bystander was killed while watching the hammer-throwing competition at the Highland Games after being hit in the head by the 22-pound ball.
The 65-year-old guy was going through the Geldrop Castle grounds when the invisible hammer flew through the air and struck him.
‘The pendulum lowered, we watched the ball fall over the hedge, and then we heard a lady shouting extremely loudly,’ a witness told local news source Omroep Brabant.
He didn’t see the ball coming at all since he wasn’t a spectator, as stated.
Rather of attending the Open Highland Games, the guy was in the castle gardens.
Emergency personnel, including a trauma helicopter, flocked to the site, but he was declared dead there.
Traditional Scottish games use a wooden pole with a metal ball connected at the end known as the “hammer.”
The Games were instantly stopped when the guy was knocked to the ground, and spectators could do nothing except watch in despair.
People were allowed to go behind the hedge, according to witnesses, despite being warned not to remain where the ball had fallen.
After the incident, the hammer thrower was “extremely distressed,” according to a witness, who also noted that the athlete was “not a rookie, but truly a top player” who had previously competed in significant events.