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Strange Deaths

catseye said:
I agree it's lazy journalism. To the onlooker I guess any knot where the rope is tied over and around looks 'complicated'. And who else would have a need to tie knots, but a sailor? Unless it were a slightly perverted scout.
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In defence of sailors, anyone who ties up a naked woman and kills her is more than slightly perverted. I don't see the distinction that only the Scout would have to be slightly perverted, implying it is more or less what you'd expect from a sailor.

Who else ties knots? sailors, scouts, truckers, tree surgeons, campers, back woodsmen, kayakers and other water sports enthusiasts, anyone who uses a roof rack, and hobbyists to name but a few.
 
Mikefule said:
In defence of sailors, anyone who ties up a naked woman and kills her is more than slightly perverted. I don't see the distinction that only the Scout would have to be slightly perverted, implying it is more or less what you'd expect from a sailor.

Who else ties knots? sailors, scouts, truckers, tree surgeons, campers, back woodsmen, kayakers and other water sports enthusiasts, anyone who uses a roof rack, and hobbyists to name but a few.
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But do they all tie nautical knots? As a horse owner I can tie a fair few 'complicated' knots to keep a horse tied up, but I don't think they are nautical...
 
Mikefule said:
Who else ties knots?
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I can tie my shoelaces. Probably doesn't count as a 'nautical' knot though. Unless I'm tying my shoes to a boat. Or 'plimsolls' maybe.
Oh and the other knots I can do are the ones that you double back over themselves further up the rope to keep a load in place in the back of the van.
 
catseye said:
But do they all tie nautical knots? As a horse owner I can tie a fair few 'complicated' knots to keep a horse tied up, but I don't think they are nautical...
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Don’t forget that we are dealing with a Daily Star reporter’s version of a US reporter’s rendering of a court transcript of a policeman’s opinion of the nature of a knot.

“Desperate woman about to hang herself wraps rope ten times around table leg” doesn’t titillate a tabloid reader; “Mystery of rare seaman’s knot” does.

maximus otter
 
What's Strange: This Russian farm worker died of anaphylactic shock from the bite of a non-lethal-to-humans venomous snake. It was the allergic reaction rather than the venom that killed him.
What's Even Stranger: He was bitten on the tongue during his third attempt to swallow the snake as a stunt.
Snake-swallower dies after viper bites tongue in horror scene

A daredevil farm worker performed a stunt which saw him trap a snake in his mouth, but he died after the viper bit hit and triggered an horrific allergic reaction ...

A snake-swallowing daredevil has died after a viper bit his tongue and throat and caused a horrific allergic reaction.

Video shows the farm worker, 55, performing a "trick" in which he traps the snake in his mouth in front of workmates in a watermelon field in Astrakhan, Russia.

Reports say the man had twice before put the viper further down his throat.

But on the third attempt, seen in the footage, the snake bit his tongue.

While the snake is poisonous, its bite should not be lethal to humans.

A few hours later the unnamed melon farmer was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with Quincke's edema after his tongue and throat swelled after an “allergic reaction”. ...

He was reported to have suffered anaphylactic shock.

His tongue “could barely fit in his mouth” and he was left gasping for breath, said one report.

Frantic efforts by doctors at Kharabalinskiy district hospital failed to save him, according to Antrakhan 24. ...
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FULL STORY (With Photos): https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/snake-swallower-dies-after-viper-25069491
 
An elderly South Carolina man died while mowing the lawn. He drowned ...
Man drowns in freak lawnmower accident

An elderly South Carolina man died in a freak lawnmower accident.

The Cherokee County Coroner says that 88-year-old Daniel Lee Shaw of Gaffney was cutting the lawn when the accident took place.

"Shaw was riding a zero turn mower on his property when it ran off the turf and overturned down an embankment into a creek. The mower came to rest on top of Shaw trapping him under the water," Coroner Dennis Flowler said in a news release. ...

Shaw was discovered by family members at 8:50 p.m. who began searching for him after failing to show up at his nearby home. That was about 4 hours after he was last seen. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.fox5ny.com/news/man-drowns-in-freak-lawnmower-accident
 
A mother of three died while doing a rope (bungee?) jump in Kazakhstan. One of the ropes that should have arrested her fall either failed or wasn't properly secured.
'Bungee jump' horror as mother-of-three unwittingly leaps 80ft to her death when rope 'is not secured' during extreme sport event at Kazakhstan hotel

A mother-of-three leaped to her death when a 'rope free-flying' extreme sport jump went horribly wrong.

Harrowing footage shows Yevgenia Leontyeva, 33, calmly stepping over the edge of the rooftop of a hotel in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

She plunged 82ft suffering multiple injuries after a supporting rope was not properly secured on a tree, according to reports. ...

There are screams from onlookers on the roof and watchers below rush to her assistance after the appalling fall.

Adventure-loving Yevgenia - an experienced jumper - was rushed to hospital where she underwent surgery for serious head injuries, but died soon afterwards.

... a cross-line to which her rope was attached - and which was supposed to break her fall leaving her suspended above the ground - failed to hold or was not even secured.

She crashed onto the ground below and was dragged around 12ft before ramming against a wall. ...
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FULL STORY (With Video): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...t-secured-extreme-sport-event-Kazakhstan.html
 
EnolaGaia said:
A mother of three died while doing a rope (bungee?) jump in Kazakhstan. One of the ropes that should have arrested her fall either failed or wasn't properly secured.

FULL STORY (With Video): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...t-secured-extreme-sport-event-Kazakhstan.html
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Calls to mind the death of Michael Lush who was killed in a similar accident where the actual bungee was not attached.
The stunt was to be shown in the BBCTV Saturday evening variety programme The Late Late Breakfast Show but the series was abruptly cancelled when the participant Michael Lush was killed in rehearsal.

Wkipedia page on the TV show

On 13 November 1986, volunteer Michael Lush was killed during his first rehearsal for another live stunt. The stunt, called "Hang 'em High", involved bungee jumping from an exploding box suspended from a 120 ft-high crane. The carabiner clip attaching his bungee rope to the crane sprang loose from its eyebolt during the jump. He died instantly of multiple injuries, and the show was cancelled on 15 November after Edmonds resigned, saying he did not "have the heart to carry on".[12]
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This happened in a town near us and I remember hearing about the boy collapsing and dying at the time:

The inquest reports that Cason, 12, died of 'anaphylactic fatal asthma which was caused by peanut ingestion, with bilateral pneumothorax (collapsed lungs) as a contributing factor.'

The terrible accident was caused by the child's own grandfather using a peanut-based glaze for roasting the festive meats.

Winsford boy, 12, died after allergic reaction to Christmas dinner

"I was cooking Christmas dinner and had prepped the night before - a beef joint and a gammon joint. I had completely forgotten about Cason's nut allergy.

"We cooked the meal and at 2pm all the family enjoyed our time around the table. I remember Cason licking his plate clean and saying 'grandad that was lovely'.

"Cason went out to play with his mates. Around 45 minutes to an hour later, I was told by my wife Helen that Cason was at the park and couldn't breathe properly.

"Helen asked me what I'd done with the food. It was at this point I realised that the gammon glaze I used had nuts in it. I had completely forgotten about the nut content of it."
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Coincidentally I was chatting in a shop yesterday with someone about the dangers of nut allergies. Her opinion was tha allergy sufferers should only eat at home in case of contamination.
I said I'd probably do that but shops and restaurants still have a duty to prepare and label foods carefully.
 

France: Train kills three migrants lying on tracks​

Three migrants have been killed and one seriously injured after a train struck them in south-western France.
A local mayor and police said the migrants were lying on the tracks when they were hit in a coastal town near Biarritz on Tuesday morning.

The mayor of Ciboure said the area was well-known as a transit route for migrants.

Mayor Eneko Aldana-Douat told BFM TV the migrants "were sleeping or lying" on the tracks.

Police are trying to identify the migrants. Citing a police source, the Parisian newspaper said all of them were Algerian nationals.

The one who survived suffered a broken leg and has been taken to hospital, local prosecutors told the AFP news agency.
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hunck said:

France: Train kills three migrants lying on tracks​

Three migrants have been killed and one seriously injured after a train struck them in south-western France.
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Bloody hell that's awful :)

But surely a train track is a train track wherever you're from? I mean, it's quite difficult to not notice a train track when you're finding somewhere to sleep, however desperate your situation. Were they expecting the trains to stop when the driver saw people on the line?

Tragic.
 
CarlosTheDJ said:
Bloody hell that's awful :)

But surely a train track is a train track wherever you're from? I mean, it's quite difficult to not notice a train track when you're finding somewhere to sleep, however desperate your situation. Were they expecting the trains to stop when the driver saw people on the line?

Tragic.
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Maybe where they're from doesn't have trains?
 
A man has fallen to his death from a hot air balloon in Israel.

"A man has died in northern Israel after he fell from a hot air balloon and landed on top of a moving car.

Israeli media reported that the man, in his 20s, was a member of the balloon's ground crew who was left hanging on to the balloon's basket after it took off.

The balloon's passengers tried to pull him inside, but he slipped and fell about 100m (330ft) onto a car driving along a highway near the town of Afula.

Paramedics said the man was declared dead at the scene."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-58965920
 
I guess it beats landing in front of a moving car.
 
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escargot said:
That's the result of very bad work practices, like the recent bungee accident. It would have been someone's job to check everything was ready before the event. Someone didn't do it.
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The thing I dont get is why didn't he let go of the rope at 1, 2, 3, even 4 metres high, he may have sprained or broken some body part but surely he knew the higher the balloon got, the worse his situation was getting.
 
Nosmo King said:
A man has fallen to his death from a hot air balloon in Israel.

"A man has died in northern Israel after he fell from a hot air balloon and landed on top of a moving car.

Israeli media reported that the man, in his 20s, was a member of the balloon's ground crew who was left hanging on to the balloon's basket after it took off.

The balloon's passengers tried to pull him inside, but he slipped and fell about 100m (330ft) onto a car driving along a highway near the town of Afula.

Paramedics said the man was declared dead at the scene."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-58965920
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The deceased's parents are friends of my cousin.

A picturesque part of the world, an agricultural valley which is a Northern continuation of the Rift Valley.

But touched by tragedy today.
 
Nosmo King said:
The thing I dont get is why didn't he let go of the rope at 1, 2, 3, even 4 metres high, he may have sprained or broken some body part but surely he knew the higher the balloon got, the worse his situation was getting.
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Possibly panic, or he really expected that he'd be pulled to safety, something was caught thereby preventing him from letting go. People don't reason well when confronted by something totally unexpected.

Research with first responders, emergency personnel has shown that when people visualize accidents and how they'd respond, they tend to act when something happens rather than freeze.
 
Still reading Ghostland An American history In haunted Places.

I looked up the sad case of Margaret Schilling. The asylum was so vast that it was possible for people to go missing and their bodies not discovered for a while. This happened to Margaret Schilling whose body was found a month later in the attic of an unused part of the site. She was apparently a good resident and relatively independent. She was supposed to have taken off her clothes and folded them up neatly before lying down on the stone cold floor and died.

It is by all accounts a famous case and is a sad reflection of care at that time.

https://www.historicmysteries.com/margaret-schilling/
 
Nosmo King said:
The thing I dont get is why didn't he let go of the rope at 1, 2, 3, even 4 metres high, he may have sprained or broken some body part but surely he knew the higher the balloon got, the worse his situation was getting.
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He'd have been in the middle of some task (checking ropes, I dunno) when the balloon took off and wouldn't know it was rising for a few vital seconds. By then he'd have no choice but to try to scramble into the basket.

The photo is horrifying, poor bloke.
 
Does anyone know if there's some sort of technical reason why they couldn't have terminated the balloon flight?
 
pandacracker said:
Does anyone know if there's some sort of technical reason why they couldn't have terminated the balloon flight?
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While I don't know any more than anyone else I'd guess it would certainly have been terminated ASAP, but the accident happened in the first few seconds. By the time the crew knew what was going on it was too late.

Balloons take off quite quickly because they have to go straight upwards to avoid obstacles on the ground. Sometimes they do 'bounce' a little first. Perhaps this worker thought it was a bounce.

Also, the sides of the gondola are high. Anyone clinging to the side would be hard to see and you'd have to stand on something to lean over to grip them. You might not even know where the screams were coming from.

Reminds me of this terrible accident from 1932.
One of the three men managed to tie himself onto the rope and was saved.

 
pandacracker said:
Does anyone know if there's some sort of technical reason why they couldn't have terminated the balloon flight?
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All modern hot air balloons have one or more vents in the envelope (hot air bag) allowing the 'pilot' to release hot air, reduce net buoyancy, and cause the balloon to descend. Some envelopes also have vents on their sides, allowing for releasing hot air laterally to provide a modest way to rotate the balloon. The vents are controlled by lines / ropes from the gondola.

Whether or not immediate venting could have brought the balloon back down in time to save this poor guy is an open question. One must also consider the fact a radical venting would have exposed all aboard to risk during a sudden emergency landing.
 
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