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Strange Deaths

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. --

An Okeechobee woman was killed Wednesday after part of a portable toilet crashed through her car's windshield, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Dawn Johnston, 38, was driving south on State Road 15 shortly after 11 a.m. when two portable toilets fell from the trailer of a pickup truck traveling north, West Palm Beach TV station WPBF reported.

According to the crash report, the portable toilets broke apart when they hit the road, and part of one of them crashed through Johnston's windshield, striking her. Johnston's car then veered off the road and crashed into a tree.

Johnston was taken to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
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http://www.wpbf.com/irresistible/24108675/detail.html
 
Obake said:
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. --

An Okeechobee woman was killed Wednesday after part of a portable toilet crashed through her car's windshield, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Dawn Johnston, 38, was driving south on State Road 15 shortly after 11 a.m. when two portable toilets fell from the trailer of a pickup truck traveling north, West Palm Beach TV station WPBF reported.

According to the crash report, the portable toilets broke apart when they hit the road, and part of one of them crashed through Johnston's windshield, striking her. Johnston's car then veered off the road and crashed into a tree.

Johnston was taken to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
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http://www.wpbf.com/irresistible/24108675/detail.html
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That just sucks. That's completely insane.
 
Actor dies after Cornwall's Minack Theatre performance
Page last updated at 10:53 GMT, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 11:53 UK

An actor who was airlifted to hospital after falling ill during a theatre performance in Cornwall has died.

The man was taking part in Romeo and Juliet at the open air Minack Theatre when he was taken ill on Monday night with suspected heart problems.

He was not on stage at the cliff-top theatre in Pothcurno at the time.

The actor was winched from the changing room area into a helicopter from RNAS Culdrose and flown to the Royal Cornwall Hospital where he later died.

The performance of the Shakespeare play was halted while the airlift took place.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/corn ... 520232.stm

http://www.minack.com/
 
So why aren't they divulging the actor's name?
 
Presumably because, as he was not famous, the faintly interesting circumstances around his death make a better story than the death itself. :(
 
Home elevator becomes death trap for elderly Georgia couple stuck inside

What a horrible story.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - When the elevator in their home got stuck between floors, Sherwood and Caroline Wadsworth found themselves trapped with no way to call for help as temperatures rose into the 90s in the closet-sized lift until they finally died from heat exhaustion.

Autopsies on the elderly couple — he was 90, she was 89 — on Thursday pointed to a tragic end to lives they shared for more than 60 years. Police estimated they had been dead at least four days before a newspaper carrier called 911 out of concern that papers had piled up by their garage.

Investigators were trying to determine what turned an elevator into a death trap inside the Wadsworths' three-story home overlooking Georgia's coastal marshes. Stunned family members, meanwhile, looked for a shred of solace.

"We always said we hoped they would go together because if one went, the other wouldn't survive long," the couple's son, Wesley Wadsworth of Blue Bell, Pa., said Thursday. "They were so dependent on each other."

The newspaper carrier called police Wednesday after noticing the unopened editions going back to July 9, as well as an untouched watermelon a neighbor had left at the couple's door the day before.

Police had to break into the house because the doors were locked and bolted. Inside they found no one but the Wadsworths' cat. Then they noticed the elevator — accessed by what looked like closet doors with up-and-down arrow buttons in the walls. Once the shaft was open, they found the elevator stuck between the home's second and third floor.

Police discovered the Wadsworths' bodies lying in a fetal position, facing each other, Glynn County coroner Jimmy Durden said Thursday. Autopsies concluded both died from heat exhaustion. Durden estimated temperatures in the elevator reached 95 degrees.

There was no phone in the elevator, leaving the couple unable to call for help, said Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering.

"It's just tragic," Doering said. "We all know one day we're going to die. This is one of those horrible ones where you're stuck somewhere."

Though they were from Pennsylvania, the Wadsworths had been vacationing on the Georgia coast most of their lives. They'd met while attending Ursinus College in the 1940s, not long before Sherwood Wadsworth went overseas to fight in World War II as a bomber pilot.

Caroline Wadsworth was the daughter of prosperous car dealer. When her husband returned from the war, their son said, he started two dealerships of his own in the Philadelphia area before retiring to the Georgia coast in the early 1980s.

They stayed as active as their health would allow. Until he needed a cane, Sherwood would walk three miles on the beach every day. Twice a week, they'd head to a resort on neighboring Sea Island for cocktails and dancing to big band music.

"My father-in-law dressed in a dinner jacket or tux, and my mother-in-law always wore a long dress — dressed to the nines," said Maureen Wadsworth, their son's wife. "They were great people, fun people."

As the years passed and age took hold, the couple went out less often. But they maintained their independence and took care of each other.

Sherwood, known as Waddy to his friends, would get up every morning to fetch the newspaper and make breakfast for his wife. He'd send it up to her in the elevator so she could eat in bed and work on the crossword puzzle, his son said.

Likewise, whenever the couple ventured out, Caroline would wrap an arm around her husband's for extra support as he walked with his cane.

"My mother-in-law's arm was always slipped in his," Maureen Wadsworth said. "They always walked hand-in-hand."

In the past week, neighbor Phoebe Hoaster had a growing sense that something wasn't quite right. She noticed newspapers gathering outside the couple's garage when she left a watermelon at their door Tuesday before the couple was found.

Hoaster, who lives next door to the Wadsworths' house along a narrow private with marsh grasses growing on one side, says she also noticed Sherwood didn't take out the trash on Sunday as he normally did. That didn't seem too unusual, she says, considering the sweltering July weather.

"I thought, 'Well, it's hot and maybe they're just not getting out," she said.

Doering, the police chief, said it's still unclear precisely when the Wadsworths became trapped in the elevator. And the autopsies were unable to determine exactly how long the couple had been dead. But Doering said investigators are confident the couple died at least four days before their bodies were found.

Inspectors at Georgia's Department of Labor are also investigating to determine whether the elevator was licensed when it was installed, department spokesman Sam Hall said. The probe could take several weeks.

Annual inspections aren't required for elevators in private homes, unlike those in public or commercial buildings. Hall didn't have technical details about the couple's elevator, but said all elevators in Georgia are required to have a landline phone so users can call for help.

"It's the responsibility of the owner of the elevator to make sure the maintenance is done properly," Hall said.

Wesley Wadsworth, who last visited his parents to celebrate his father's 90th birthday in February, said they had complained of mechanical problems with the elevator in April and May.

Still, no one suspected the device that had seemed such a boon to his parents in their old age would become a death trap.

"We were prepared for them to die," the couple's son said. "But not that way."
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Baby dies minutes after being immersed three times during baptism
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:57 AM on 28th July 2010

A six-week-old baby drowned as he was baptised after his face was submerged in water several times.
Father Valentin has been accused of manslaughter after allegedly failing to cover the tot's mouth before immersing him.
The priest denies being to blame for baby's death at the ceremony in the Rascani district in north-western Moldova, Eastern Europe.

Film shot by relatives shows the baby moving after being taken out of the font, but then suffering difficulty breathing as he is dressed.

Twenty minutes later, he started bleeding from his nose and mouth.
The baby died on the way to hospital and an autopsy found he had drowned, the baby's dad Dumitru Gaidau told Romania's Publica TV.
He added: 'We all saw it, the priest didn't put his hand over the baby's mouth to stop water going in as he should have done and as they do at every other baptism.
'We couldn't believe it that he just put his hand over his belly and over the head and submerged him three times in the water.'

The baby's godmother Aliona Vacarciuc, 32, told the Sun: 'The baby was crying as he went into the water.
'We couldn't believe it but we thought the priest must know what he's doing, but he didn't. When we got him back there was nothing that could be done anymore.'

She said that she and the other godparents had challenged the priest and asked him: 'What have you done.'
She added: 'He just told us that he knew better than we did what should have happened and that it was not his first baptism — he was experienced and knew what to do.'

Doctor Sergiu Raileanu, who examined the tiny tot, confirmed that the baby had drowned.
Local police said they have launched a manslaughter investigation. If found guilty, the priest faces up to three years in jail.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... z0uy7KqJZz
 
Priests and vicars in this country tend to just splash the baby's head with a bit of water.
Full immersion is just asking for trouble.
 
Nanny, 30, died from sexual arousal while watching pornography

A 30-year-old woman's death as she used a sex toy while watching pornography was probably due to her state of sexual excitement, an inquest heard today.

Children's nanny Nichola Paginton was found dead in bed naked from the waist down last October with pornographic material running on her laptop. A sex toy was discovered next to her.

A Home Office pathologist told the inquest in Gloucester that Miss Paginton died from a sudden heart arrhythmia, probably brought on by her state of arousal.

Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore agreed it was likely that 'her activity before death' contributed to the fatal arrhythmia.

The inquest heard that Miss Paginton, of Cirencester, was found dead in October last year.

Detective Sergeant Gavin Webb said police had been called by her employer Sarah Griffiths who had visited Miss Paginton's home when she failed to turn up for work.

When there was no reply at the door she enlisted the help of neighbour Michelle Grant and they saw Miss Paginton through the curtains, lying on her bed with her cat lying on her chest.

'After they broke in they realised Miss Paginton was dead,' said Sgt Webb. 'She had a computer on her lap and when they moved it and lifted the duvet, they found she was naked from the waist down and there was a vibrator in the bed.

'The laptop was still displaying pornographic material.'

Home office pathologist Dr Richard Jones from the University of Cardiff said: 'There is nothing to explain why she died in this way but I suspect sudden cardiac death.'

Returning a verdict of death from natural causes, Mr Crickmore said: 'I am satisfied Nichola Paginton died of a natural disease process - sudden cardiac arryhthmia.

'It is not always possible to determine an exact cause of death but it is likely that her activity before death contributed towards it.'
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"...next to her"? I suppose it would depend on the type of device in use, but something seems not quite right about that detail. Even if it's just the report being needlessly coy.

Of course, I realise that she need not have had said device inserted anywhere, but "next to" suggests it was sitting on the bed to one side, as opposed to in contact with the body in some manner. Maybe I'm overthinking this.
 
The World Sauna Championships have ended very badly.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10904691

Finalist dies at World Sauna event in Finland

BBC Online. 7 August 2010

The annual World Sauna Championships in Finland have ended in tragedy with the death of one of the finalists, the organisers said.

Russian finalist Vladimir Ladyzhensky and Finnish rival Timo Kaukonen were both taken to hospital after collapsing and Mr Ladyzhensky later died.

...
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Pietro_Mercurios said:
The World Sauna Championships have ended very badly.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10904691

Finalist dies at World Sauna event in Finland

BBC Online. 7 August 2010

The annual World Sauna Championships in Finland have ended in tragedy with the death of one of the finalists, the organisers said.

Russian finalist Vladimir Ladyzhensky and Finnish rival Timo Kaukonen were both taken to hospital after collapsing and Mr Ladyzhensky later died.

...
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One of the online newspapers here in Norway published a photo of the russian lying on the floor and he was obviously dead. 30 minutes later they replaced it with a photo where you see only part of his head and legs.
 
I heard that on the radio. Probably a candidate for Great Acts of Stupidity - going into a room that's hotter than boiling water is not something sensible people would do. No wonder they suffered burns.
 
Saw a comedy fillum a few years ago featuring a cruise liner whose passengers included the Swedish Ladies' Olympic Suntanning Team.
Thought that must be a made-up event but now I'm not so sure. :lol:
 
escargot1 said:
Saw a comedy fillum a few years ago featuring a cruise liner whose passengers included the Swedish Ladies' Olympic Suntanning Team.
Thought that must be a made-up event but now I'm not so sure. :lol:
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You've just given me a 'heads up' to a coincidence I failed to spot for myself:

Yesterday, I finished reading a murder mystery, "Dangerous Sea", set on the liner Queen Mary in 1937. There is various skullduggery and murder afoot, including the attempted murder of a woman in a sauna! It appeared she had been rendered unconscious with chloroform, and then the heating controls were turned up to maximum... :shock:
 
Didn't even manage to get the mother-in-law...

Groom accidentally kills three at wedding

A groom accidentally killed three relatives at his wedding in Turkey when he fired into the air with an assault rifle in celebration, the Anatolia news agency says.

Eight other people were wounded in the incident on Sunday at the village of Akcagoze in the southeastern province of Gaziantep.

The groom unleashed a volley of rapid aerial shots with an AK-47 rifle to celebrate his nuptials, but quickly lost control of the weapon and accidentally raked the guests with bullets, the report said.

His father and two of his aunts died in hospital.

The groom was arrested.

Turks are notorious for breaking out into gunshots to celebrate weddings and sports victories, a practice that has caused many deaths and which authorities have so far failed to curb.
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http://www.smh.com.au/world/groom-accid ... 11qlq.html
 
Shouldn't laugh, but

accidentally raked the guests with bullets
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Don't you hate it when that happens? :lol:
 
It was all a clever ruse to avoid the after-dinner speech.
 
Car thief 'suffocated after 17-stone man sat on him', inquest told
An overweight man, Brian Machin, was arrested for unlawful killing after sitting on and suffocating a carjacker trying to steal his vehicle, an inquest heard.
By Andrew Hough
Published: 7:30PM BST 10 Aug 2010

The 17-stone man restrained Bernard Doherty as the thief attempted to steal a Mitsubishi Shogun outside his house in January last year, it was claimed.

Mr Machin, 53, used his knee to hold the 24-year-old to the ground while his cousin William Jones, whose car was targeted, lay across his legs.

An inquest at Hanley Town Hall heard the pair, both lorry drivers, held down Mr Doherty while they waited for police in the early hours of January 9 last year.

By the time police arrived at the address in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, they found Mr Doherty, unconscious but still being restrained, the inquest was told.

The father-of-one, who was from Stockport but was in the town for a family funeral, was later pronounced dead at hospital.

A post-mortem found Mr Doherty, who had a partner, Brooke and a four-year-old daughter, Britney, died from asphyxia due to an object pressing on his chest area.

The cousins, who said they “showed no malice” towards him, were later arrested on suspicion of unlawful killing.

They faced six months of uncertainty while awaiting a decision from the Crown Prosecution Service about whether they would be charged.

The case was eventually dropped because prosecutors could not “establish that the force used was excessive”.

Neighbours at the time said Mr Machin had to move out of his home, which he had just spent £2,000 redecorating, “for his own protection” after the death.

The inquest heard Mr Jones had been followed as he drove to Mr Machin's home when Mr Doherty approached him and said: "Give me the keys to the Shogun, if you don't, I'll turn you over".

He then snatched the keys and jumped into the driver's seat but Mr Jones, 57, struggled with Mr Doherty before Mr Machin pulled him out of the vehicle.

They restrained Mr Doherty, whose face was under the Shogun, and told the inquest they thought he had stopped struggling because he knew he could not escape.

Mr Jones told police: "I said something like 'give it up son, you aren't going anywhere' and it was like he gave up.

"We weren't restricting his breathing as far as we were aware. We didn't want to hurt him, we just wanted to let the police have him. We didn't want to assault anybody."

His cousin added: "If he had said 'you're hurting me' then we would have pulled him out from under the car. There was no malice towards the lad. I didn't think I was hurting him."

The inquest heard police, paramedics and hospital medics all were unable to revive Mr Doherty.

On Tuesday Ian Smith, the North Staffordshire Coroner, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... -told.html
 
Pilot plunged 1,000ft to her death in front of boyfriend after BOTH wings fell off her glider
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:53 AM on 12th August 2010

A pilot plunged 1,000ft to her death in front of her horrifed boyfriend after both wings of her glider fell off in mid-air.
Amy Barsby, 25, had just launched her craft at the start of a university competition when the catastrophic accident happened.
The PhD student's glider plummeted to the ground at Bicester, Oxfordshire, leaving her with multiple injuries.

Her boyfriend Bruce Duncan, a gliding instructor, called an ambulance but there was nothing paramedics could do.
It is understood that Miss Barsby, who has a younger sister called Lorna, died instantly.

Her father Steven today told said the family had been shattered by her death.
Speaking from the home he shares with his wife Helen and their younger daughter, in Longridge, near Preston, Lancashire, he said: 'It was all over in a few seconds.
'It seems like (the wings) more or less came away at the same time and then it plunged down to the ground.
'Bruce witnessed the event and we understand that his first reaction was to instantly call the emergency services.
'Fortunately he was prevented from seeing Amy at the crash scene but he is struggling to make sense why such a lovely young woman has been taken from us at such a young age.
'The emergency vehicle was on scene very quickly and I think it was apparent that she died instantly.'

Miss Barsby had driven down to her parents' home with her partner and a group of friends on Friday night.
Her father said she had been 'very happy' and looking forward to the competition.

The party then went on to Bicester on Saturday ahead of the contest on Sunday.
After arriving at the airfield, Miss Barsby and Mr Duncan assembled the glider, which had been transported in a trailer.
She then undertook a successful test flight to check that the craft was working before lining up for the first round of the competition.

Gliders are launched by a tractor type machine that pulls them along until the air gets under the wings, carrying them up to1,000ft.
Miss Barsby, a silver grade pilot with ten years experience of flying, had reached the correct height to fly when Mr Duncan saw the craft disintegrate.
The Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has launched a full investigation into the crash.
The investigator has told the family that he was satisfied the craft was constructed correctly for flight and that there had been a 'catastrophic' failure.

Miss Barsby had become hooked on flying gliders while she was a schoolgirl.
'When I saw her face when she stepped out of her first glider there was a look of ecstasy that she had so we knew then that we couldn't dream of stopping her from doing it,' her father said.

etc...

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z0wO8MrESp
 
According to the BBC news this morning the glider was 50 years old, which apparently isn't unusual. It had been assembled correctly on the day. This seems to rule out both outside interference and sabotage. So it seems to be a material or structural failure.

Very sad indeed. :(
 
Had this by email. Don't have a link but it was apparently reported on CNN.

Ghost Train Hunter killed by train

The facts: On August 27, 1891, a passenger train jumped the tracks on a tall bridge near Statesville, North Carolina, sending seven rail cars below and about 30 people to their deaths.

The legend: On the wreck's anniversary, the sounds of screeching wheels, screaming passengers and a horrific crash might still be heard. You might also see a uniformed man with a gold watch.

Shortly before 3 a.m. Friday, on the 119th anniversary of the Bostian Bridge train tragedy and at about the same time, between 10 and 12 ghost hunters were on that approximately 300-foot long span.

They were hoping to hear the sounds of the crash, and perhaps see something.

Instead, a real Norfolk-Southern train -- three engines and one car -- turned the corner as it headed east to Statesville, about 35 miles north of Charlotte, authorities said.

The terrified "amateur ghost watchers" ran away, back toward Statesville, trying to cover the nearly 150 feet to safety, said Iredell County Sheriff's Office Capt. Darren Campbell.

All but two made it.

Christopher Kaiser, 29, of Charlotte, was struck and killed, said Campbell.

A woman who witnesses say Kaiser pushed to safety fell about 30 to 40 feet from the trestle and was injured. Her name and condition were not known Friday night. She was being treated at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

"There was no way out, said Campbell. "They almost made it."

The engineer of the train, which was traveling at its customary 35 to 40 mph, hit the horn and "stopped as fast as he could," Campbell said.

Campbell, 38, is from the area and has heard all the stories, although he said he knows of no one who has ever seen or heard the "ghost train."

On the 50th anniversary of the Bostian Bridge incident, a woman said she witnessed it all again. In 1991, hawkers sold T-shirts and other memorabilia, and there were an estimated 150 people waiting for the train, according to the Charlotte Observer.

There are occasional reports of railroad crossing arms dropping without cause, Campbell said.

The ghost trip on the anniversary has become an annual tradition of sorts.

A woman who did not want to be identified, but who was part of the group of onlookers, told CNN affiliate WCNC, "We were there looking for what people say happened. You hear the train wreck or hear people screaming. We were just watching."

Kaiser's mother said the family was too distraught to talk about the incident, WCNC said.

Campbell said most of the ghost hunters, who were from out of town, have been interviewed. Many fled because they were trespassing on railroad property, he said. Campbell said there were no patrols near the bridge early Friday.

Although the investigation is continuing, Campbell said the incident appears to be an accident.

At least two blogs that cover the phenomena, N.C. Ghost Guide and CreepyNC.com, detail the 1891 wreck's legend. While accounts vary somewhat, the man with the gold watch reportedly was first seen on the first anniversary.

According to CreepyNC.com, Hugh K. Linster was a baggage master for the Asheville-bound train that crashed into Third Creek that August of 1891.

"Hugh Linster never made it to retirement," the blog reads. "His body was found in the wreck having been killed immediately upon impact with a broken neck."

One year later, a group of people at the bridge said they saw a man in a railroad uniform, holding a watch.

He vanished before their eyes, legend has it.
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