Debris kills 6-year-old boy at monster truck show; show goes on

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NFS4

NFS4

No Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
72,636
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TACOMA, Wash. - Debris flew into the grandstands at a monster truck show in Washington state, killing a 6-year-old boy and injuring another spectator, witnesses and city officials said Saturday.

A red truck came apart while doing doughnuts during the freestyle competition of Friday night?s Monster Jam show, the witnesses said. Debris from the truck flew 30 to 50 feet over a safety barrier into the stands.

?Parts were falling off and a piece flew up and hit a little boy,? Christine Moe told King Television of Seattle.

Police Officer Mark Fulghum said officers serving as security at the Tacoma Dome investigated the accident.

?At this point, there?s nothing to indicate that there?s anything criminal,? Fulghum told The Associated Press on Saturday night. ?Right now it looks like a tragic accident.?

The Pierce County medical examiner?s office identified the boy killed as Sabastian Hizey of Puyallup.

The boy?s father, Jessie Hizey, issued a statement to KIRO-TV on Saturday that said his son was hit in the head by a Frisbee-sized piece of metal, weighing between 7 and 12 pounds.

?I cannot get the images? out of my head, the father said.

The man who was injured was taken to a hospital Friday night, but Robert McNair-Huff, community relations manager for the city, said the man?s identity was not available Saturday.

Some spectators told the TV station they had to throw cups off the stands to get the attention of medics. The show continued after the two were hurt, and many spectators left.

?They just kept going,? Moe said. ?We grabbed our kids and just bee-lined out of there.?

Laurie Deranleau, 32, a nurse from Westport, told The News Tribune, ?Everybody sitting around thought they should have dropped the show and gave the family some respect. Nobody was paying attention to the show.?

The Tacoma Dome was continuing with four Monster Jam shows on Saturday and Sunday.

McNair-Huff said the promoter, Feld Motorsports, promised more inspections of trucks in the show and that the truck involved in the accident would be withdrawn.

The company based in Aurora, Ill., did not respond to requests for comment Saturday from The Associated Press.

A statement it released Friday night said: ?Our company follows strict safety guidelines designed to protect both spectators and competitors alike.?
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http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28710745/
 
Jeff7

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
I am reminded of a racing scene in an MST3K episode:

(Mike) From the crowd on screen: "Come on, make a flamin' tire fly into us!"


 
Fenixgoon

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
32,886
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how are you supposed to pick a child out of a massive crowd? without more info, it sounds like fans didnt alert security personnel or call 911 in order to get the boy proper medical attention.
 
Don Vito Corleone

Don Vito Corleone

Elite
Feb 10, 2000
30,029
67
91
I'm going to give the organizers the benefit of the doubt that they didn't know about the dead 6-year-old when they decided to continue the show. His death is tragic and my sympathies go out to his family.

This is certainly not the first time motorsports fans have been hurt or killed. 80 people died at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955 when parts of a burning car (it unfortunately, featured a magnesium body, which burst into flames after a crash) flew into the stands. Mercedes withdrew from racing for decades after that.
 
Don Vito Corleone

Don Vito Corleone

Elite
Feb 10, 2000
30,029
67
91
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
how are you supposed to pick a child out of a massive crowd? without more info, it sounds like fans didnt alert security personnel or call 911 in order to get the boy proper medical attention.
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In fairness he was hit in the head by a heavy object. He may well have been killed instantly.
 
P

pstylesss

Platinum Member
Mar 21, 2007
2,914
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I was at that show but left before this happened, it wasn't all that great... We were walking back to our car when we saw an ambulance go wizzing by. Had no idea something had happened at the show until an hour later.

I can't believe they continued after that happened.
 
T

tranceport

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2000
4,168
1
81
www.thesystemsengineer.com
That just sucks all around..

I cannot imagine what it is like to lose a child at an entertainment event like this. Something you had only the best intentions of taking your little boy out to see the monster trucks.
 
Vic

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
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Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
I'm going to give the organizers the benefit of the doubt that they didn't know about the dead 6-year-old when they decided to continue the show. His death is tragic and my sympathies go out to his family.

This is certainly not the first time motorsports fans have been hurt or killed. 80 people died at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955 when a car flew into the stands. Mercedes withdrew from racing for many years after that.
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That incident at Le Mans changed the face of auto racing forever. Not to be taken lightly. AAA stopped all racing activities permanently, and auto racing was actually banned in some countries for years afterwards.

The last time a spectator was killed in the US, IIRC, was at the 1987 Indy 500, when a tire broke off one of the cars and flew into the stands.

Still, monster trucks aren't really racing, but exhibitions, and the organizers' decision to continue was poor form.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,802
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www.anyf.ca
When your driving a big monster truck or any vehicle concentrating on stunts or other stuff, with the sound of the engine and stuff breaking the last thing you'll notice is some debris flying, or any type of commotion in the stands.

This is sad and they should look at how to prevent it, but it's a freak accident and it should be left at that. Sadly, chances are they'll get sued and stuff and the show will never happen again, ruining it for all the fans.

It's sad, but stuff like this can happen. You take that risk by going to a place like that. Same with nascar. I've been to a race and seen up close how fast those go, if something went wrong there's always the possibility of accidents, though it's fairly safe. you take the risk by going.
 
skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,649
5,761
146
I drove by there tonight and the show indeed still goes on. It made me think of my 6 year old nephew who loves to play video monster trucks, damn.:(
 
R

RKS

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,824
3
81
Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
When your driving a big monster truck or any vehicle concentrating on stunts or other stuff, with the sound of the engine and stuff breaking the last thing you'll notice is some debris flying, or any type of commotion in the stands.

This is sad and they should look at how to prevent it, but it's a freak accident and it should be left at that. Sadly, chances are they'll get sued and stuff and the show will never happen again, ruining it for all the fans.

It's sad, but stuff like this can happen. You take that risk by going to a place like that. Same with nascar. I've been to a race and seen up close how fast those go, if something went wrong there's always the possibility of accidents, though it's fairly safe. you take the risk by going.
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At a baseball game you can expect a baseball and maybe even a splintered bat. At a football game you may reasonably expect a football. There ain't too many places someone will their kid where they assume the risk of getting hit by a 10lbs. frisbee flying at who knows what speed. There is a difference between assuming a reasonable risk and a freak accident.
 
N

Numenorean

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2008
4,442
1
0
Well stopping the show would not bring the child back to life.

Other than removing the truck that was damaged, what else should they do? Of course they need to get medical personnel up there to attend to the injured, but after that is done - why not keep the show going? People paid to see it, might as well finish.
 
MrDudeMan

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
Originally posted by: Numenorean
Well stopping the show would not bring the child back to life.

Other than removing the truck that was damaged, what else should they do? Of course they need to get medical personnel up there to attend to the injured, but after that is done - why not keep the show going? People paid to see it, might as well finish.
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You like to troll in every thread you come into. It's not that your comment is absurd, but you purposefully go against the grain and say retarded things.
 
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