A man has been killed after a freak hammer-throwing accident at a Highland Games event in the Netherlands on Sunday.
The 65-year-old victim was walking on the grounds at Geldrop Castle on August 7 - where the Open Highland Games were being held - when an unseen 22lbs metal ball flew through the sky and struck him, Metro reports.
After falling to the ground, emergency services - including a trauma helicopter - rushed to the scene, but the victim could not be saved and was later pronounced dead.
One witness spoke to local news outlet Omroep Brabant about the tragic incident and said: "The pendulum dropped, we saw the ball go over the hedge, and then we heard a woman screaming very loudly."
The hammer throw is a traditional sport in the ancient Scottish games, in which, contestants swing the metal ball around their heads before tossing it as far as they can.
The equipment contains a wooden pole with a metal ball - that usually weighs 22lbs for men and 16lbs for women - connected. The games were immediately stopped after people saw the man was knocked to the ground.
According to the Daily Mail, many people ran toward the victim and tried to perform CPR on him but their efforts were unsuccessful.
The man was reportedly visiting the castle grounds and was not there to watch the Highland Games unfold.
Witnesses said they had been told not to stand in the area where the ball had landed.
It has been reported that the hammer thrower was "completely upset" after the tragic incident, with a witness saying: "He was not a rookie, but really a top player, who had already participated in big competitions before."
As reported by the Mirror, Adri Geerts, the chairman of organizers Foundation Village Marketing Geldrop-Mierlo, spoke to local media and said he was "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," he continued. "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," he added, before explaining that competitors are receiving support from victim support and revealed that the athlete who threw the fatal hammer is "completely beside himself".
"I haven't spoken to him myself, but he's completely beside himself, this should never have happened to him," he said.
Police are continuing to investigate the accident and have not publicly identified the victim yet.
Our thoughts are with everybody affected by this tragedy.
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