A Dutch man has died five days after being hit in the head by a head bomb that exploded ‘like a grenade’ at a bachelor party in Belgium.
A 37-year-old tourist from Eindhoven, whose name has not been released, died in an explosion in Stavelot on the evening of May 13. The man and a dozen of his friends are believed to have planted the pétanque balls. in and around the fire pit, but one got so hot it exploded, the pieces hitting the man and reportedly burning his entire face and driving metal fragments into his skull.
The second Dutchman also suffered minor injuries. The family of the deceased, who asked for privacy to allow them to grieve, said:
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A shocked neighbor told local media what she saw and heard after the incident. He said. “Fifteen minutes later we saw the ambulance arrive.
“Then we heard a medical helicopter circling overhead. Then I found out it was for a vacation home
“We heard the medical workers talking among themselves. So someone was seriously injured, his whole face was burned.”
The man was taken by helicopter to the University Hospital of Liège, where he was put into a medically induced coma.
Stavelot-Malmedy police, who are investigating, said: “At the moment, it is not clear what happened, but it seems that a ball was thrown into the fire, which could explode the device installed in the park.
“It had the same effect as a grenade. When the bullet exploded, pieces flew into the back of someone’s skull.
This is not the first time someone has been killed by a petanque ball. In 2018, a Frenchman tragically died in similar circumstances when a ball was dropped over a barbecue and exploded.