STRANGE DEATHS
UNUSUAL WAYS OF SHUFFLING OFF THIS MORTAL COIL
Michael Kosanovich, 21, died after being crushed by an unmanned car started by remote control. On 6 December 2019, the New York man was standing between two parked Lexus 2002 IS300s when one of them was started remotely by its owner, and rolled forward pinning Kosanovich between the two vehicles. Bystanders attempted to free him but the car rolled forward and crushed him again. Kosanovich was taken to hospital with severe trauma to the legs and torso and died of his injuries the next day.
According to the New York Police Department, at the time of the fatal accident, Kosanovich had been inspecting one of the vehicles as he intended to buy it. A spokeswoman for Toyota Motor North America said: “Our deepest sympathy goes out to the family and friends of Michael Kosanovich,” adding that Lexus “did not offer a factoryinstalled remote start in the 2002 IS” model, suggesting that a remote ignition system would have had to be retrofitted. The system’s instruction manual warns owners they should never remotely start the engine if “unaware of the circumstances surrounding the vehicle” as it could be dangerous for anyone in the car’s vicinity. BBC News, 12 Dec 2019.
A vegan couple were charged with the murder of their 18-month-old son after he died of starvation, a Florida court heard. Ryan Patrick O’Leary, 30, and Sheila O’Leary, 35, of Cape Coral, told police they fed their child only raw fruits and vegetables. They called the emergency services on 27 September 2019 after they noticed he was unresponsive and had turned cold. Despite attempts at resuscitation, their son was pronounced dead, and was found to weigh only 17lb (8kg), about the healthy weight for a seven-month-old child. The couple had three other children, ages three, five, and 11, who were also adjudged to be victims of child abuse and extreme neglect. The three- and five-year-olds are now in care, while the 11-year-old was reunited with her biological father. The O’Learys were indicted by a grand jury on charges of firstdegree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, child abuse, and two counts of child neglect. They could face the death penalty. nbcnews. com, 19 Dec 2019.
A teenage army cadet died from a stroke after turning his head too quickly while making dinner. An inquest heard that Ben Littlewood, 17, had been making sandwiches for his sister and himself, when he apparently suffered an ischemic stroke in which an artery to the brain tore due to neck injury. He was found lying on the kitchen floor and was taken to hospital where he died eight days later. D.Telegraph, 6 Dec 2019.
Five people died and six were injured when a heating pipe burst in a small Russian hotel, flooding its rooms with boiling water. All the victims, including a child, were guests at the nineroom hotel, situated in the basement of a residential building in Perm, near the Ural mountains. D.Telegraph, 21 Jan 2020.
A man was killed when a large metal plate crashed into his apartment at Torreforta, in Spain’s autonomous Catalonia region. The one-ton object, which caused part of the building to collapse, had been launched by an explosion at a chemical plant 3km (two miles) away. A factory employee at the La Canonja site just south of Tarragona was also killed in the blast, and another worker subsequently died from injuries sustained during the incident, which occurred at 18.40 local time (17.40 GMT). Eyewitnesses told of seeing “a ball of fire” streak across the sky at the time of the blast, and saw a large object hit the building, causing damage to its exterior. Authorities say a chemical accident probably caused the explosion, which set off a huge fire at the Industrias Químicas del Óxido de Etileno plant, but that no toxic substances had been released. Local residents were initially told to stay indoors as dozens of firefighters worked through the night and the following day to control the blaze, spraying water over chemical tanks to keep them cool. The factory produces chemicals such as ethylene oxide, used to make antifreeze and pesticides, and propylene oxide, used to make plastics. Both are extremely flammable. BBC News, 16 Jan 2020.
A father and his nine-year-old daughter were shot by hunters when they were mistaken for deer during a New Year’s Day hunt in Colleton County, South Carolina.